Heavy Metal
by Hagashi Abarai Productions
Summary: 7 years after Mariemeia, a new faction called Orion threatens ESUN's fragile piece. Preventer enlists the help of expert mechanics Katarina Winner and Cassandra Matthews to rebuild the Gundams. Meanwhile, Orion prepares to mount an all out war on Preventer that will forever change the lives of all those involved. It's up to the Gundam Pilots to stop the war and protect the peace.
1. Chapter 1

Heavy Metal

A GW fanfic by: Raven and Kim

DISCLAIMER: We wish… Katarina, Cassandra and Tetsuya Camui belong to us, as well as the plot.

...

Chapter 1

AC 204

Preventer HQ

Earth

The main conference room was abuzz with chatter. It was full to its capacity, all the chairs around the table filled, and most of those present were forced to stand wherever there was room. Of the near sixty agents inside, only a select few seemed calm and collected, and they were all seated around the conference table. Heero Yuy, Quatre Winner, Duo Maxwell, Wufei Chang, Trowa Barton, Sally Po, Lucrezia Noin, Zechs Merquise and Howard filled these seats. Only one remained unoccupied at the moment. It was the chair at the head of the table that would undoubtedly be filled with Lady Une's presence any minute now.

The second the main door opened and Lady Une stepped into the room, everything got extremely quiet. No one moved, hardly dared to breathe because of the forlorn and serious look on her face.

"You're all here, good," She pushed her chair aside and dropped a small folder onto the marble table top. "As some of you have already been informed, at 0100 last night, our mainframe was hacked. Several top secret files were viewed and stolen, the most important being the original plans to the Tallgeese Gundam's computer system. We suspect the Orion group to be the perpetrators,"

There was a collective uproar from those in the room, but it quickly hushed again as Une stared at them all. This situation was definitely a serious one.

"I've been on the phone all night with the President and the Joint Chiefs. They have authorized us to take serious action."

"More like they ordered it," Duo muttered from his spot at the table. Une spared him only a brief scathing glance before turning her attention back to everyone else.

"I've called you all here because you are the utmost best at what you do. We're going to be rebuilding the Gundams,"

Another collective uproar, but this time it didn't get quiet again for some time. After only a few years of peace, allowing the Gundams to be rebuilt just seemed ridiculous. Even if this rebel group was stupid enough to start another war, they couldn't possibly have the resources necessary to come up with the kind of fire power that would require the aid of the Gundams.

"Please, pay attention!" Une suddenly called out, bringing the room back to a decent quiet. "The situation is going to get much worse and I need each and every one of you to listen and to understand your role in our plan to try and stop this war. All of your are mechanics, engineers and computer technicians, and all of you have flight experience in mobile suits. Get to know one another as you're going to be working closely together over the next few months," At this Lady Une stood up straight and sighed quietly. "Howard,"

Hearing his name, Howard turned his full attention onto Lady Une, knowing what was coming before it even happened.

"The files we have on the Tallgeese are very limited. Not everything about the original Gundam or its systems have been detailed. Can you explain this?"

"Eh, well, you see," Howard scratched his head nervously. "Everything in that file is everything I knew about the suit. I only came into the picture when construction started on it. I was pretty close to her original creator, but I never really asked about the specs of its control system. Even the Tallgeese III now in Preventer Wind's possession is merely a mocked copy. Aside from the original plans that had been in the computer database, what's in that file is all that I can give you," Howard lied as he shook his head and looked down at the table for a moment. "But even the file that was stolen won't be of much help to Orion. Without the complete detail of the main system, it really can't be duplicated. Of course, anyone with any know how on building mobile suits won't really need it. Not in this day and age,"

"Then we've already failed," Une fell into her chair and shook her head, looking distraught for the first time since coming into the room.

"Well, no ma'am, we haven't," Wufei announced suddenly. "There's one other person that has the original plans. The hard copy,"

"Wufei," Howard shot the man a stern look. "She won't go for it,"

"Who?" Une asked, staring between the two men.

"Well, you see…" Howard sighed in exasperation. "Tallgeese's original creator isn't exactly…well…"

"She's alive," Wufei muttered, not in the slightest bit hesitant to reveal as much. "In hiding, I'm sure,"

"She's not in hiding!" Howard snapped, rolling his eyes at Wufei's show of dramatics.

"She?" Zechs inquired, slightly surprised by this revelation. He'd always wondered why there was something oddly feminine about some of Tallgeese's attributes.

"I assume you know where she is?"

"No," Howard admitted, sighing heavily again. "But I know where she will be,"

"Then bring her in," Une stood up again, looking at the group still crowded into the room. "Howard, Wufei, Zechs and Trowa, I want you all to go and retrieve this woman and bring her back here. We need to get started immediately. The rest of you, please follow Quatre, Duo, Heero and Noin to the hangar bay. They will give you the details on where to begin. Dismissed,"

Howard leapt up and quickly followed Lady Une, Wufei hot on his heels. "Ma'am! I really must protest!"

Une spun around on her heel and stared at him. "Howard, we need her. She's the only one that can help us make sure we stand a chance,"

"You don't understand, Lady. I mean no offense. It's just that, well, she won't go for it."

"Why wouldn't she want to help save the lives of millions of people?"

"It's nothing to do with that, Ma'am, not at all. She just doesn't like the military! She got away from all of that after the Tallgeese was shot down in 194. And…other things," At this, Howard glanced at Wufei and met the man's unhappy sneer with resignation. Wufei blamed Cassandra for a lot of the things that had gone wrong in his life, most importantly, the death of his wife, Meiran. Treize was, ultimately, the one who had struck the killing blow, but it was Cassandra that had allowed Meiran to take the Tallgeese, even knowing it was not completed.

That wasn't the truth of it, of course. Cassandra had put up one hell of a fight to keep Meiran from taking the Tallgeese into battle, but in the end, Meiran had won.

Howard shook his head as Lady Une took in what he'd told her, but she looked no more reluctant to call the woman in than she had upon learning she was still alive.

"We need her here,"

"But she won't-"

"Find a way to persuade her," Une spun on her heel and was gone to her office in a flash.

Howard stood with Wufei in silent contemplation for a moment, terribly unsure of the entire situation. "She won't even listen to me if you're there,"

"Then I won't show myself until the last moment,"

"I suppose that will suffice. Ah, well, I suppose we should get ready. We've got a long drive ahead of us,"

...

Trowa climbed out of the truck and gazed around at the packed parking lot beyond where they had pulled up. Zechs and Wufei followed, Howard not far behind.

"Must be one hell of a concert. How are we supposed to find her?"

Howard chuckled. "I know exactly where she'll be. Follow me. And listen up! You all need to get somewhere and duck down. As long as she only sees me, she won't make a run for it. I don't want you two," (at this he pointed to Zechs and Trowa), "to try and grab her yet until I have her full and undivided attention. She's going to be extremely pissed, and let me tell you, she's quite the spitfire," Howard rubbed his arm. "And she gets feisty when she's riled. However, I don't think she'll put up too much of a physical fight, none at all if we play our cards right. And Wufei, I don't want you making an appearance until we get her alone in the room and have a chance to explain some things,"

"Whatever it takes," Wufei muttered as he moved back to the truck and moved it out of sight. Howard proceeded to lead Zechs and Trowa around the side of the concert venue where a lone car was parked beneath a tree. From what they could see of it, Zechs and Trowa gathered that it was a gray colored Mustang with what seemed to be the name of whatever band was playing inside of the venue written across the top of the windshield.

"Now we wait," Howard announced and Zechs and Trowa immediately found the perfect spots to keep themselves hidden while they waited for their prey.

...

Cassandra Matthews stepped out of the concert venue and into the cool night air, surrounded by fellow fans of her favorite band. She, like the rest of the crowd, was still pumped from the concert and so was extra energetic on her way back to her car. Her ears were still ringing from the loudness of the event, but her spirits were soaring. It was a good night, and as she headed for her car she was still singing the last song played and looking happier than Howard had seen her in a long time.

Cassandra jerked to a stop when she spotted him leaning casually against her car.

"Howard?" She asked cautiously, taking only one small step towards him. He looked relaxed enough, but she'd known him for as far back as she could remember and had spent so much time with him that it was becoming easier to tell when something was going on. "Why are you here? How did you find me?"

"Sweetheart, I've always had the means to find you. Considering what happened and the reason you left, I just chose to let you alone for a while," Howard sighed and pushed off the hood of her car. He closed the gap between them and wrapped her in a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry, Howard," Cassandra murmured as she walked back to the car with him and leaned against the hood. "After the funeral…once it was all said and done, I had to get away for a while. I didn't mean to stay gone as long as I had, but even now, it's hard to face what happened,"

"So am I, kiddo. There's a lot I could have done to help you, but I thought you would need to be left alone for a while. You would have come back when you were ready. Unfortunately, I can't wait for that now," Howard shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. "I have a favor to ask of you,"

"What kind of favor?"

"A favor you're not going to like," Howard straightened up again and betrayed his comrades who were approaching, by looking in their direction. Cassandra glanced at them, recognizing the Preventer uniforms, and she sighed quietly.

"What's this about, Howard?"

"Let's move this discussion to a private area, shall we? Preventer has secured a conference room for us," Trowa offered as he studied Cassandra in detail. She looked familiar, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Must be one hell of a favor. This have anything to do with Orion?" Cassandra questioned as they entered a small conference room and closed the door. "Howard, I'm flattered you think I'd be of any help, but I told you a long time ago, I didn't want to be involved any more,"

"I know, sweetheart, but we need you on this one," Howard reached across the table and took her hands. "Don't be angry,"

The door opened and Wufei stepped inside, drawing Cassandra's attention from the man that had raised her as his own, and she felt her temper slipping the leash. She hadn't seen Wufei in seven years and she wasn't happy about seeing him now. Their eyes met and they stared at each other for a moment before Cassandra yanked her hands away from Howard and leapt out of her chair to pace.

"We need your help rebuilding the Gundams, Cassie. We've got one of the best mechanics on the job, but she can't handle it by herself," Howard insisted as she paced by him again, the look on her face indicating how angry she was getting. She and Wufei had never gotten along. He blamed her for the death of his young wife when she'd stolen the Tallgeese to defend her colony, even though Cassandra had done all she could to stop Meiran. And Wufei had destroyed a mobile suit seven years ago in the Mariemaya war that had belonged to the love of Cassandra's life. He knew Wufei hadn't known, hadn't harmed the man to settle a score with Cassandra, but she didn't know that and she believed he'd done it to get back at her.

Finally, her furious pacing was too much for him.

"Sit down!" Howard demanded loudly, making her stop. She flinched, recognizing that fatherly tone he used to always have with her. "Cassandra, you need to hear me out,"

"I told you a long time ago, Howard, I'm not designing any more weapons for you or anyone else!" She looked at Wufei. "I'm still coping with the ramifications of the last one."

"Really?" Wufei snarled and looked away. Cassandra's shoulders sagged. He still blamed her for Meiran's death. She hadn't pegged him for the type to a hold a grudge for so long, but she had a grudge she still held quite firmly against him as well.

"I don't need you to design anything for me, Cassie. Not this time,"

She sighed heavily. "No, Howard," She moved for the door and had just reached it when Wufei called her name out softly. "What?" She turned to look at him, wanting desperately to punch that smug look off of his face.

"It's the Tallgeese, Cassie," Howard said quietly.

Cassandra tensed as she looked at him. "What about her?"

Howard stood up and shook his head. "They stole her, Cassie. Her design, her systems. Orion has stolen her,"

Zechs watched as Cassandra's anger diminished over having been dragged into the room. She seemed to think it over for a moment before she refocused her attention on Howard again. That suit obviously meant a lot to her. Howard's wild card.

"Orion stole her?"

"Yes,"

"They _stole_ her?"

"Not the suit itself. She's still in the hangar back on base, but they stole her original system plans," Howard repeated, glad he was getting through to her.

She sighed as she walked back toward him and fell into the empty chair across from him. She looked so upset. "What do you need?"

Howard and the rest of the group breathed a sigh of relief at this. "Does this mean you'll help?"

"For Tallgeese? Yes. Howard, I designed that Gundam to help keep the peace, not to destroy it, and she means a lot to me," Zechs stared at her, gaining a new respect for this woman. She was still a spitfire and he was sure they weren't going to get along very well, but he knew he'd have to suck it up and deal with her anyway. She was the Tallgeese's creator, meaning he was going to be working very closely with her when it came to his Tallgeese III.

"We need you to restore her systems to their full potential," Howard began as he reclaimed his own seat, knowing what that would mean to her. "Preventer has been ordered to rebuild all five of the Gundams. Zechs here has the only fully functional Gundam still in existence. The Tallgeese III is currently our only defense, and I think we could tip the scales of this war back in our favor if she were at her full potential,"

"You're her pilot?" Cassandra asked as she stared over at Zechs.

"Yes, I am,"

"Huh," Cassandra turned back to Howard and rubbed the back of her neck. "I suppose the original designs and schematics of the Tallgeese will help with the construction of Gundams better equipped to deal with whatever the hell Orion is building, but her specific system will only help her. Are we having to start from scratch?"

"Yes. And, well, we're hoping you'll do your best on upgrading the Tallgeese III. Since the Tallgeese had been so badly damaged, everything had to be replaced. None of your original parts remained save for the engine. We were able to jerry-rig it into working at half capacity. But since you never told anyone how it really should have worked, the two models that followed it were just mockup copies. And your experience with the system could benefit Zechs here greatly,"

Cassandra glanced at Zechs again and sighed. "I have one condition,"

"I'm listening," Howard smiled softly at her.

"If I do this for you, if I help you to get this done and it stops the war, you have to promise me that you'll do everything in your power to find out what the hell happened to my family,"

Howard flinched a little. He had known it was coming and nodded faintly. Not much was known about Cassandra's past. Just that she was found wandering around when she was twelve. She had no memory of who she was or who her parents were, nor did she have any inclination as to how she'd wound up on Howard's doorstep. But the woman had a knack for engineering and mechanics and he'd put her to work straight away. When she'd come to him with the Tallgeese's design, he'd been absolutely overjoyed and had put it into play almost immediately. It was her greatest accomplishment and she cherished that Gundam above everything else because it had been a part of her. It was only natural that she react so violently over the fact that the rebel group had stolen her.

"I'll do everything that I can,"

She hesitated, then nodded at him, pulling a necklace out from behind her concert t-shirt. The charm dangling from the chain looked simple enough, but if you looked closely, you could clearly tell that it was a well disguised memory chip. She unclasped the chain and held it out to Howard, looking a little reluctant.

"It's all here, Howard,"

"You'll help us then?"

"Yeah," She whispered, sighing heavily. "I'll do what I can to help you, but I want full authority over Tallgeese. If they really want her to work the way she was designed to, I need to know that no one is going to interfere with my work."

"Believe me, you'll have it. Zechs will give you as much help as he can, and you know I'll be right there with you every step of the way. And since Zechs is Tallgeese's current pilot, it would be best if the two of you got to know one another. Why don't you two bring the Mustang back to base?"

Someone made a rude noise, but Howard wasn't sure if it was Zechs or Cassie, but either way, he knew those two were definitely going to be a good pair. A pain in the ass most days, but he was positive they would get along very well once the work got started. And once Zechs saw what the Tallgeese was really capable of, he would understand Cassandra's reluctance to help. They needed to be able to work together to make sure nothing could go wrong. It was the only logical solution. No one but Cassandra knew hardly anything about Tallgeese's complex system. Zechs was her pilot and would therefore need to know everything about it that could possibly help him control it better.

"Here, you hang on to this," Howard passed the necklace back into her hands. "No need to be givin' it to me. You're the one that's going to need it these next few months,"

"Let's get back to headquarters," Trowa said softly. "Une is calling a second meeting and she wants us all there. And she wants her in uniform," He indicated Cassandra who just smiled and shook her head.

"I hope this organization has enough money to pay for the hell I'm going to put them through," Cassandra rose and allowed Zechs to escort her back to her car. "I assume you're going to drive?"

"You assume correctly," Zechs said, catching her keys as she threw them at his head.

"Fine, but don't even think about touching the radio. My car, my music."

"Fine,"

"Oh yeah," Cassandra said as she watched Zechs climb into the driver's seat. "You owe me big time, Howard!"

...

End Chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_ They all stood at the bottom of the hill as the fire and smoke rose into the sky. It was over. The fighting was finally over and the Gundams had been destroyed. They could get back to their lives. Granted, she didn't like wearing a skirt and blouse to work with her brother at her father's company, but it was a __**normal**_ _job. No more repairing Gundams. No more wondering if the boys would come home safely. No more first aid kits. A pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders as she looked back to see Quatre smiling at her. His happiness was infectious as she returned the smile and closed her eyes, sighing. The other pilots just stood in silence. Perhaps it was in awe that they no longer had to carry this burden._

_ "Can you believe it, Kat? No more war. We can finally all live in peace. We can be normal."_

_ "I know, Q. I'm actually...excited. Though I don't know how I'm going to get used to not being covered in grease and living with just you in our huge house." Katarina replied, amusement in her voice._

_ "Maybe it won't be just the two of us." her brother teased, glancing at Duo._

_ Katarina scowled. "I don't know what you're talking about, Quatre."_

_ "Just listen to what he has to say is all I'm asking, Katarina." With that, the blonde moved away to speak with Trowa, Heero, and Wufei. _

_ "Hey." came a voice from beside her. It was Duo. Was her brother clairvoyant as well? "So it's finally over, huh?"_

_ Kat sighed. "It seems like it."_

_ The brunette was silent for a moment or two before continuing on. "I'm going to miss not being able to pick on you every day. It was how I got through."_

_ "I'm glad I was able to give you some amusement." Kat replied laughing._

_ Looking into his dark blue eyes, she saw no amusement there. "I'm serious, Kat. I've wanted to talk to since before this whole Mariemeia thing started." he said, placing a hand on her cheek, stroking it gently with his thumb. "Katarina, we've known each other for a long time. We've been through some rough times and some narrow scrapes. What you've done hasn't gone unappreciated."_

_ Katarina could feel her heart pounding in her chest and hear her blood rushing through her ears. She was shaking. "Duo, what are you saying?" she asked, her voice trembling. He was starting to scare her. What he was saying was not too different from notes left behind by suicide victims._

_ Duo still held her eyes with his. He drew a breath as if preparing his next sentence carefully and licked his lips as a nervous habit. "Kat, I love you. I have for years now and have been too big of a coward to say anything."_

_ She felt her heart leap and shatter at the same time. That's when the tears came. "Duo. Duo, I can't."_

_ "You can't what?" he asked, confusion masking his pain as he looked on._

_ "I can't love you." she replied, trying to control her voice to some extent. "You have Hilde. She's important to you."_

_ Duo shook his head frantically. "No, Kat, it's not like that. Hilde is my business partner at the salvage yard. Our relationship is platonic. I love **you**."_

_ The blonde shook her head, resting her hand on his. "I'm sorry, Duo. I just can't. Go back to L2, and the salvage yard, and Hilde. Trust me, you'll be much better off."_

_ As she walked away from the braided God of Death, she couldn't foresee that Duo would call in a month to apologize. She couldn't see that he would come and visit her and Quatre at their home. She couldn't see the regret of her decision and the pain her heart was in. She couldn't see that no matter how hard she tried to keep their friendship as strong as it had been, it would never be the same again. Her fear of being loved and being in love had caused her to walk away, what she thought was for good. Her heart ached for the brunette, but she wouldn't admit it to herself. A sharp pain and the oozing of warm liquid brought her out of her reverie and back to the task at hand._

...

Cursing loudly, Katarina sucked on her injured knuckle. She hadn't been allowed in the first meeting, so here she was in the hangar tinkering with the damaged mobile suits. The blonde paused a moment in her work, thinking. This couldn't be good news from Une if she had requested both she and her brother to make an appearance at the Preventer's headquarters. It hadn't made her feel any better either when she'd spotted all of the ex-Gundam pilots gathered around as well. Something big was about to go down, though she wasn't sure what. Katarina turned back to her wrench and the loose metal plate she'd been working on. These mobile suits hadn't been used in so long, the bolts were coming loose. Seven years of peace would often lead to the ignored maintenance of war machines. Thank Allah they hadn't been stored outside or they would've surely rusted. The sound of footsteps echoed through the large hangar. When she looked down to see who was coming, she saw her brother approaching with a small smile as he raised his hand in greeting.

Katarina smiled as she diverted herself from her work to greet him. "Hey Q, how did the meeting go?"

The blonde stopped when he reached the bottom of the catwalk. "Looks like the era of peace has been compromised. Want to come down and get something to eat? I'll explain everything on the way to the cafeteria."

Nodding, Katarina secured her foot in the stirrup and rode the rope to the floor. When she joined Quatre, they exited the hangar and made their way down the maze of corridors. "So, you said you'd explain on the way, so start explaining."

Quatre chuckled. "You remember the original Tallgeese, right?" When he received a positive nod, he decided to continue. "A group formed in the colonies called Orion has gotten their hands on the plans. Lady Une isn't sure what they plan on doing with the Tallgeese blueprints, but she thinks it's important enough to begin the reconstruction of the Gundams."

"No way." Katarina whispered, stopping for a moment. "What exactly does she think that they're doing with those plans?"

"That's the thing, Kat. We're not sure if they have the means to start a full-scale war, but if they do have the plans, then they intend to make Gundams of their own. The only way to fight them would be with our Gundams. You see?" the Arabian queried.

"So she really didn't need me to come after all." Kat said sheepishly as she began walking again. "This is once again a job for the Gundam pilots. The mechanic is not needed."

"Actually," Quatre entered, cutting off her train of thought, "Lady Une wants you at the next meeting. They're bringing in the original creator of the Tallgeese and you might be able to help with whatever they're planning. Besides, Kat, you know the Gundams inside and out. You can help with the schematics and all that."

"I told you, Q, it's not the same. You guys go out and fight and I fix the damage after it's over. I do what you guys could be doing yourselves ten times faster."

Quatre shook his head as he spotted the person they were supposed to be meeting. As if on cue, Duo leapt up from his seat and waved his arms to draw their attention. Katarina shook her head as she followed her brother. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Duo. Were you here long?"

"Not at all, Q-man. Hello there, Kitty Kat. Where have you been hiding all day? Why the long face?"

The blonde didn't reply for a moment. "I've been in the hangar. As for the blues? I'm about to start playing Gundam doctor again. You guys go out and risk your lives for peace. I just sit back and repair your Gundams when they need it."

The brunette frowned at this answer. "Now you know that's not true, Kat. If you didn't bust your ass fixing our Gundams, then we wouldn't have 'em to fight with anymore. Not that we'll have 'em again for a while anyway. If it makes you feel better, you're the only one allowed to work on Deathscythe once he comes off the assembly line, got it?"

Kat smiled at Duo. It comforted her to know that the God of Death could be encouraging sometimes. "Thanks, Duo. You always have this weird way of making me feel better and I appreciate it."

Duo reached across the table and grabbed her hand, causing her to quirk an eyebrow. "Look, no more of this mopey, I'm useless stuff out of you. Do you hear me, Kit Kat?" She couldn't help but laugh at such a dumb nickname.

"Loud and clear. So, did dear Lady Une say anything about why she wanted me at the meeting?"

"Something about development and mapping the blueprints of the new Gundams." Quatre informed her. "I guess you'll be the head of that project since the doctors are nowhere to be found."

Kat excused herself for a moment to get herself some food before returning to comment. "Great! How the hell am I supposed to make Gundams with no Gundanium alloy? Jesus, does anybody even know where they get that stuff?"

"That's the thing we don't get." her brother replied. "The Preventers got a mass shipment of it less than a week ago from an anonymous sender. No doubt it was Doctor J and the others."

Popping another French fry into her mouth, Kat just blinked. What could she say to that? What did the doctors know that they didn't? Something wasn't adding up. It was like they knew in advance that they were going to need the alloy and sent it to make their lives a little bit easier. Then there was this whole thing of her being the one in charge of the whole freaking project. She'd fixed Gundams, not _built_ them. Sure, she would have all the mechanics at her disposal, but how could they really help? They'd worked on mobile suits; Leos and Aries. Gundams were _not_ the same. Katarina was brought out of her thoughts by Duo waving a hand in front of her eyes. His braid hung over his shoulder as he smiled at her.

"They just made an announcement while you were in La La Land." he told her. "All pilots and mechanics are to report to the conference room ASAP. I guess Howard managed to get Tallgeese's creator back here."

Kat sighed as he and Quatre rose to their feet. Her meal would have to wait. "Let's get this over with then."

...

As the trio made their way to the conference room, they were met by none other than Sally Po and Wufei. Katarina scowled as the Chinese man approached them. He didn't look too happy either. He launched into conversation with Quatre and Duo as Sally approached her with a smile. The two paused outside the door, waiting for the other three to finish their talk. "You look a little up tight, Katarina."

"Well, if what they tell me is true, I'll be heading the project to rebuild the Gundams. I don't know the first thing about building a Gundam! I just fixed them!" the blonde exclaimed.

Sally laughed a little. "That's more than I can say for the half-ass mechanics around here. They've gotten lazy."

As they were joined by Wufei, Quatre, and Duo, they entered the large conference room. Some of the chairs were already filled by Heero, Trowa, Noin, Howard, Zechs, other pilots and mechanics she'd seen around HQ, and a woman she didn't recognize. Lady Une was already at the head of the table distributing manila folders to each and every one of them. They took their seats and prepared for what was to be said. Une had a very serious look on her face as the room was silent, waiting for an explanation. The new woman looked less than happy to be there, yet resigned and curious at the same time.

"During the few hours since our last meeting, Orion has sent their demands to Vice Foreign Minister Darlian. They are prepared to go to war if the colonies are not liberated from the Earth Sphere Alliance's rule. Miss Darlian has requested that we keep this incident as quiet as possible for as long as we can. You all know about the shipment of Gundanium Alloy that was sent to us a few weeks ago, so someone is either trying to encourage a war or is trying to help us out. The folders in front of you contain all the data we have so far on Orion. They're being led by a man calling himself Anubis. We also have fair reason to believe that with the stolen Tallgeese blueprints, they're constructing Gundams of their own. We can only hope that this speculation is wrong. If it happens to be right however, we're going to need the Gundams. That's why you five are here." she said, looking at each of the pilots. "Katarina."

The blonde jumped in her seat. Duo snickered at her, earning him a smashed foot under the table. "Y-yes, Lady Une?"

"Having been a mechanic to all five Gundams since the beginning of the Eve Wars, you know the Gundams inside and out, correct?"

Kat knew where this was going right away. "Yes ma'am. I know the schematics for Sandrock, Deathscythe, Wing Zero, Shenlong, and Heavyarms, plus their upgraded models."

Lady Une smiled at her. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. You shall be in charge of the reconstruction project. Take whatever mechanics you choose."

"No offense, Lady Une," Katarina started, rising to her feet and gaining the attention of the woman that sat across the table from her, "I don't know the first thing about building a Gundam! I fixed them, yes, but building one, let alone five, is a totally different story! There's no way it's humanly possible!"

A scowl made its way onto Une's face. She was staring Katarina down from the head of the table. "We don't have a choice. The five doctors are nowhere to be found. You have spent the most time with the Gundams so the task falls to you. Don't blame your shortcomings on your lack of knowledge. I know you can do it. There will be no more questions. You will take the assignment."

Katarina lowered her eyes. She knew of the incident Une spoke of. There had been a period during the creation of Epyon, the Mercurius, and the Vayeight that she'd been captured and commanded to fix the failures by Treize Khushrenada. It had been an experience that she didn't want to remember. She felt a large warm hand rest on her knee. Duo was eyeing her in a worried manner. She gave him a small smile before she spoke again. "Lady Une, if I may choose my mechanics, then I choose the Gundam pilots, because before they knew me, they were doing their own repairs. I choose Howard because he knows the business up and down. Besides, he was with Duo for a long time when Deathscythe needed parts."

Lady Une nodded. "A reasonable choice."

"Wait a minute." Wufei protested. "Who said I would help you, woman?"

Kat then lost her temper. "Dammit Wufei! Unless you want your Gundam's body shell to come out pink with a purple Mohawk, you'd better get your ass in gear and help me!"

Wufei grumbled as he fell silent once again. Lady Une shook her head as she shifted her gaze to the opposite side of the table. "Now that that's over, let's move to our next topic. I'd like to welcome the creator of the original Tallgeese. Please welcome Cassandra Matthews."

...

End Chapter


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Oh, singled out on the first day of work. Nice, lovely._

Cassandra didn't rise from her seat, nor did she indicate herself to anyone in the room. In all likelihood she was already standing out in the crowd. No one had ever seen her there before so they could only assume who she was. She glanced at Lady Une then caught Katarina's curious gaze.

"She's been kind enough to provide us with the hard copy of Tallgeese's original plans. Katarina, she's going to be working with you on upgrading the systems in all of the Gundams. She will also be helping with the training of the officers that are going to be involved with those systems. She's also made a request that anything and everything to do with the Tallgeese III upgrades be left to her and its pilot," Une indicated Zechs and then turned back to face the rest of the group. "Get to know these two women. They're going to be running your lives for the next several months. Are we understood?"

"Yes ma'am!" Was the collective reply from those piled into the room.

"Good. Dismissed,"

As the crowd slowly started to disperse, the only people that remained were Howard, the Gundam pilots, Lady Une, Katarina and Cassandra.

"You created the Tallgeese?" Kat asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, that was me," Cassandra sat back in her chair and chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "I had Howard's help putting her together, though, so I can't take all of the credit."

"How noble of you to bestow such an honor upon this old man!"

"Don't get your panties in a wad, Howie, darling," Cassandra smiled slyly. "If I recall, the first day of construction, you nearly got us all killed,"

Howard frowned a little at that. "It wasn't entirely my fault,"

"Right, because the Tallgeese just blew herself up,"

"It's possible! That girl has a mind of her own!"

"Are we still talking about the Gundam?" Duo inquired as he looked between the two. Cassandra just smiled at him.

"People, please!" Lady Une drew everyone's attention back onto herself again. "Let us not start this off in an unruly manner. We have a lot of work to do. And we need to start this work by better acquainting ourselves with the Tallgeese's original system." She looked back to Cassandra. "Can you please explain the basics?"

"Nothing about the Tallgeese's system is basic," Cassandra muttered, slightly insulted by Une's request. "Every part of her was complicated and intricate. I put a lot of hours into her design and her extremely intelligent system. Had she not been destroyed before her initial testing phase, the Gundams probably would have had the same engines." The look she was getting made her chuckle. "I can't say the Tallgeese was the first actual Gundam, but she does predate them."

"The only thing that was ever complicated about that hunk of junk was that it could never seem to be finished,"

Cassandra glared at Wufei. "Well, if someone hadn't insisted on taking it for a test battle before it was ready, that 'hunk of junk' would have been our salvation!"

"What a joke!" Wufei leapt up from his seat. "That suit has never been more than it is right now!"

"Wufei," Zechs warned, slightly insulted. He'd built the Tallgeese III from the ground up and he was very proud of that suit, and it was certainly not a hunk of junk.

"Sit down, Wufei!" Lady Une demanded as she glanced between the two. "Now I don't know what the hell is going on between the two of you, nor do I care what you went through in the past together. The fact of the matter remains that we are about to go to war and the Tallgeese is all we have right now. We need all of you to work together to make this happen. I've been made to understand by Howard that the original Tallgeese was never completed and that the models that followed it, Tallgeese's II and III, are just copies?"

"Of course," Howard confirmed. "Cassie never divulged the secret behind the system so I could only make a copy. Even with the actual Tallgeese in my hands, I couldn't get the system to properly work. It wasn't until Zechs took over the suit that anything started to work properly. I still haven't figured _that_ out,"

"Can you explain this?" Lady Une looked to Cassandra who just sighed.

"Even as damaged as she was, the Tallgeese still had basic functions. The only difference in her design is that she chooses her pilot. The pilot can't choose her," Cassandra looked to Zechs curiously. "I imagine she put up one hell of a fight against you?"

"I had a heart attack at 19 before I could even properly pilot her,"

Cassandra nodded, looking down at the table. "You probably tried to do too much too fast. Howard, before he took over, did you test the system out first?"

"Not very much. We sent her through a few simulations, but we never really got her fully stretched. I was just astonished that I even managed to recover her intact, for the most part."

"This Tallgeese III model, does it have the original computer chips or the original mainframe?"

"Well, no, those kind of got fried,"

"Then I'll have to reprogram and rebuild her systems from scratch…"

"Her programming has been modified to my specifications," Zechs interrupted. "The programming is fine,"

"Has anyone else ever gotten wind of this system?"

"Someone has tried something similar before, but not the same," Cassandra looked at Heero. "I don't know how the hell Treize did it, but he got his hands on the basic layout of a similar system once before. He couldn't copy it though, so all he got out of it was this thing he called the Zero System,"

Heero barely twitched in reaction to this news.

"Wait a second!" Quatre just stared at her in surprise. "Are you telling us that you are the mind behind the Zero system?"

"No, I'm the mind behind the Tallgeese system. I worked on a project for the original Zero System before it was scrapped by the lead scientist, but it had nothing to do with Tallgeese. And I made it so her programming couldn't be copied. Only someone with a very intimate knowledge of the system could ever hope to make a proper and authentic copy,"

"So what you mean is that we really have nothing to worry about once you get this system in the Gundams?"

Cassandra looked at Lady Une and shook her head. "No, I'm not saying that at all. Tallgeese's system is one of a kind, it can't ever be duplicated. The science behind it is too complicated,"

"A little arrogant," Wufei sputtered but Cassandra merely rolled her eyes.

"It's not arrogance, it's fact. It took months to even get the math right, and by the time we- I got her system working, any suggestion of duplicating the system was tossed out the window. It took too long to produce," Cassandra glanced across the table at Howard and saw the way his jaw twitched. Truth was, once she'd completed the system and it worked, she and Howard had realized what would happen if OZ or the Alliance had gotten hold of it and they had kept the system a secret for years.

"Anubis wants her, Cassie,"

"You really think I'm gonna let that ball-less bastard take my system and slap a sticker on it to claim it as his own? I put my life into that suit. I'm not about to let him take it. And you're right, integrating the Zero System with the original Tallgeese System will probably boost our chances tremendously, but Tallgeese won't need Zero once she's fully operational. But we can definitely add it to the other Gundams. I don't recommend setting it to primary functions, though." She glanced at Heero. "You can handle that system, I've seen as much, but not everyone can tolerate it. Trying to train everyone to handle it is going to take more time," She looked at Katarina and smiled. "I'm going to need your help with this. This system is going to go through a lot of testing and since you're the head of this whole shindig, your two cents would be appreciated. And I'm interested to see your blueprints for the exoskeletons and cockpit designs,"

"You've got it," Katarina offered, smiling.

"Good. It's settled. You'll need to get started immediately then. Howard, why don't you take her down to the hangar and get her set up. I'm sure she'll want to see what she'll be working with," Lady Une was making it clear that this was exactly what she needed to have done.

"Wait, she's here?"

"Yeah," Howard grinned. "She's here,"

"Come on," Zechs muttered as he rose from his seat and walked toward the door. "We'll show you,"

...

The second the elevator doors opened for the small group, they were introduced to their first glimpse of the chaos that was going to be their lives for the next several months. Zechs led the entire group towards a cleared area of the hanger where his Gundam, the Tallgeese III, rested.

Cassandra stared at it from the catwalk, totally stunned by what she saw.

"You did this?" She looked to Zechs and then back at the suit, awestruck by the sight.

"Had a little help from Howard,"

"She's beautiful…" Cassandra whispered, smiling. "It's so much more than I imagined. You upgraded everything,"

"All the way down to the last bolt in the foot,"

"I can't believe this," She walked further down the catwalk to get a better look at different angles and just shook her head. "You're not as ignorant as you look, Zechs,"

There was a giggle from behind the group and Zechs turned to glare, but Noin, Sally and Katarina all looked equally guilty.

"Looks like you borrowed some of Epyon's design as well," Cassandra stood up straight again and smiled. "I can work with this,"

"That's good to hear," Howard grinned, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Now that we've gotten you acquainted, why don't you go play with her for a while?"

"Don't have to tell me twice," Cassandra leapt for the stirrup and road it up to the cockpit, overjoyed to even be able to touch the suit again. Zechs, nervous about the wellbeing of his Gundam, quickly followed her, intent on keeping her from throwing things out of whack.

"I suggest we leave those two alone to figure this one out. I gather they'll be the most unhappily paired couple in this complex. I know Cassie too well and she's going to do everything to her own specifications, leaving no room for Zechs' input,"

"Meaning Zechs is going to give it to her any way," Noin chuckled. "They are not going to like each other,"

"They'll get over it," Heero said flatly. "I am interested about this new system she has in mind. If it's anything like the Zero System like she claims, it's bound to be efficient. She said the Tallgeese chose its pilot, right? So that would mean the system must have had some kind of neural interaction. Zero has a minor neurological aspect, but it doesn't choose the pilot. The pilot has to be able to handle it. There's a difference. What she's suggesting hasn't been done before,"

"Which is why no one has ever been able to duplicate the system," Howard pointed out as the group ventured off to start the planning, trying to keep from smiling. Tallgeese was nothing like the Zero system, but they would find that out on their own soon enough. "Now, about those Gundams,"

...

"Well?" Zechs inquired from outside of the cockpit.

"Well what?" Cassandra asked as she fiddled with the control panel, quickly pulling up the programming screens. "Huh, well look here! You are definitely an interesting man, Zechs Merquise. These readouts are quite impressive,"

"How did you get into that? It's all password protected!"

"My suit, my expertise,"

"Did you hack my system!"

"_My_ system," She corrected as she flipped through page after digital page of readouts. "Your reaction times are a lot faster than I would have thought. When I designed her, I had designed her around the reaction time of her original pilot. Seeing as how we never completed the testing phase, it left a lot out in the blue with some really big question marks. These readings…" She shook her head as she went through a few more pages. "No wonder she let you pilot her. These are crazy,"

"I've had my own experience with the Zero System,"

"I can see that," Cassandra narrowed her eyes at a particular reading and sat back in the pilot seat, slightly perplexed. "That's weird…"

"What is it?"

"Nothing, it's just," She tilted her head a little then leaned forward and flipped through a few more screens. "Huh…That can't be right…"

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Zechs inquired, not even in the least bit concerned.

"When I figure it out, maybe," She stood up, felt around the overhead panel and grinned as she pushed up a well hidden latch.

"What are you doing?!"

"Explorin'!" She teased as she climbed onto the seat and examined the brain of the Tallgeese. "Oh no, this is all wrong!"

"Don't touch anything!" Zechs growled as he climbed inside and tugged on the hem of her jacket. "I programmed her the way I wanted her!"

"Well that doesn't really mean you did it the right way, does it?"

"Cassandra!" He growled as she climbed inside and turned on the lighting inside. "I'm serious! Don't touch her!"

"She's mine, I'll do what I want!"

"The hell she is!" Zechs growled, climbing up to join her in the small hatch. "What are you doing?"

"Checking the data output, stop having a conniption. I'm not gonna change anything…yet," She grinned up at him. "This is the original hub from the Epyon, correct?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"So this is Treize's mockup. Now I'm really curious. Let's see what he's got going on here," She pressed a button and waited for the panel to open up so she could study the hardwiring and the computer chips. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!" She rolled onto her back, wired in the screen above her and read through the programming. "Oh, damn…that's not half bad,"

"Thank you," Zechs muttered, watching the green and blue lights flashing over her face as she went through the programming.

"Have you really been piloting her with this system all this time?"

"Yes, but I prefer the original system to this one. Since the Epyon was integrated with the first version of the Zero System, I had to deal with it. The original Tallgeese was much more cooperative after my first experience with her,"

"That's because my Tallgeese system wasn't equipped with something like a neural link, making it similar to the Zero System Heero used, but less stressful."

"Less stressful? I had a heart attack!"

"Because you tried to push the engines too hard before you were ready. Pretty powerful stuff, dear. Maybe next time you'll listen to her," Cassandra went through a few more pages and smiled slightly. "I told you, I designed her to choose her own pilot. And after that pilot was chosen, I programmed her to the pilot's specifications. Well, at least I would have if…" Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. "Never mind. Look, you liked the first system, right?"

"Yes, I did,"

"You realize it wasn't my version?"

"It was still an incredible system,"

"I'm sure Howard will be pleased to hear you approve," Cassandra closed the panel and sat up again, looking thoughtful. "I can work with this system and reprogram it, but I'm going to need a few extra parts. Some of these are shot. Some of the chips you've used are outdated,"

"I had to keep the construction of her under wraps. Everyone thought I was dead, so completely draining my accounts would have been too obvious. She would have been destroyed before I finished her. Besides, I didn't want to get Howard into trouble, either."

"Thanks for that," Cassandra climbed back down into the cockpit and waited for Zechs to follow and replace the panel hatch before she sat back down in front of the control panel again.

"What's so special about this system?"

"I assume you've seen a mobile doll in action?"

"Of course. Mobile dolls run completely by computer,"

"Well, it's kind of like that, except the Tallgeese was meant to share its intelligence with its pilot and vice versa. Basically, where a mobile doll is in complete control and doesn't need a pilot, the Tallgeese shares that control with the pilot, making for a much stronger suit. Mobile dolls may have intelligent computer brains, but they don't have a pilot with rational thinking. They seek out the most probable target and take it out, with no consideration for the target that might gain them more ground. In other words, they just shoot and keep going. They don't defend and they damn sure don't strategize. And they're slow! With the system I created, the Tallgeese and pilot interact with one another and make decisions based off of that interaction. That's why you had that heart attack, Zechs. You didn't want her input. You offended her,"

"I offended a computer?"

Cassandra chuckled a little. "If you want to consider her just a computer, than yeah, you offended a computer."

"But she's not just a computer?"

"Nope," Cassandra grinned proudly. "I told you, this suit is a part of me. It's my baby. She has a perfectly well working positronic brain. Or she would have if it hadn't gotten fried. Have you ever seen that old movie I, Robot?"

"Once or twice,"

"Consider the mobile dolls the NS5 robots with the basic computer brains, and Sunny as the Tallgeese. While the NS5's could only interact based on their programming through the main hub, Sunny could act on his own as if he were a human being. It's the same basic principle." Cassandra sat back and stared at the main computer screen for a moment. "The Zero System isn't the same though. With Heero's own additions, it did improve, but it just isn't the same. Zero comes up with different options and shows them to Heero, allowing him to choose the scenario that best suits him. While this is very effective, it doesn't really make the suit any more efficient. It's still just a computer,"

"What difference is there between the Tallgeese and the Zero system then?"

"Ok, try to follow me on this, Zechs. Zero is like the NS5 robots. It does what it's told to do. Tallgeese? Ah, man, Zechs. She does what she's told but she has the ability to chose not to do that. She has the ability to disobey. She has the ability to think on her own."

Zechs stared around the cockpit, literally stunned by this news. "So I'm really not in control of her at all?"

"Oh, you're in control because she lets you be in control. I told you, she chooses her pilot. It's the way I made her. She's not just a computer program, Zechs. She's alive,"

"You're one crazy woman," He muttered as he stared at her. "How did you do it?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you that," Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Look, just give me a few days and you'll be chatting with her like she was a real person. If you want it in easier terms, she's basically a living spirit inhabiting the suit. She's really quite amazing."

"That's kind of disturbing, actually,"

"Not really. You've been talking to her all along, Zechs. It's just that the only way she's been able to talk back is through Zero." Cassandra climbed out of the cockpit and stretched a little. "I should have her back to normal within a few weeks. I bet she's going to be quite the chatter box, too. Probably a bit grumpy with me,"

"I can't believe I'm having this conversation,"

"Zechs, really, in this day and age, is it really that hard to believe?"

He paused as he followed her back down onto the catwalk. "No, I guess it isn't. I suppose I'm just a little apprehensive about holding an intelligent conversation with a computer,"

"Just wait. You'll love her once you get to know her," Grinning, Cassandra scampered off to meet with Howard and to make a list of all the parts she would need to get things started.

"Learn anything about the system?"

Zechs turned towards Noin and nodded, looking back up at his Gundam. "She's an amazing piece of work,"

"Uh-huh,"

He glanced at her, sighing. "I was talking about the suit, Noin,"

"Sure you were," She grinned. "So, you think you can work with her for the next few months?"

"With or without strangling her before the end of it?" Zechs growled, shaking his head. "She's a feisty one and she's got a mouth,"

"All women do, as you well know,"

He snorted, looking away. "Yeah, I know,"

"As long as you remember that, it should be fine. Just remember, a woman with a wrench in her hand, or any blunt object really, isn't a woman you want to piss off. Besides, she seems pretty damned smart. You might learn something from her,"

He glanced in the direction Cassandra had gone and remembered the meeting the night before. "Noin, there's something between her and Wufei that's just barely being contained. They don't like each other and it has something to do with this suit,"

"I could do a little research,"

"Thank you," Zechs breathed, frowning. "We need to know everything there is to know about how those two know each other in case something happens. Whatever is between them…it isn't pretty,"

...

End Chapter


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Katarina rubbed her eyes to take away the stinging as she was going over the last original Gundam blueprint; Shenlong. She managed to redraw the blueprints with her own modifications. They weren't anything grand, but were simply thrown in in hopes they would make the Mecca more functional. It would take her about another hour or so, but she'd go show them to Cassandra afterward. It had made her feel loads better to know that someone who'd actually created a Gundam before would be helping her. It had been a week since the meeting with Lady Une and the parts they would need had been arriving during that time period off and on. She really felt a little intimidated by Cassandra. She was, after all, a true mechanic in every sense of the word. After she'd gotten a thorough explanation of the Tallgeese and its system, she thought she was going to be sick at the pure genius of the idea. She was just a simple Gundam mechanic. What could she actually do? Katarina heard the door to her small office creak open and she looked up with weary eyes to see Duo with two mugs of coffee. She looked at him gratefully as she reached out to take the mug before he drew it back slightly out of her reach.

"Do you know what time it is?" he asked casually. The blonde shook her head. "It's almost one-thirty in the morning. You've been in here since noon. What have you been doing?"

Katarina stifled a yawn as she brought out the blueprint for Deathscythe. "I've been redoing the plans for the Gundams. I've redrawn them so we'll have the original plans as well as the new ones with all the modifications. Is it really one-thirty?"

Duo chuckled as he leaned over her shoulder to inspect the new layout of the Deathscythe. "Yes, it is. This looks pretty good, Kat. I can see that you've been working hard, but you really need to get some sleep."

She shook her head once again. "I've only got to finish the layout for the Shenlong and then I'm done. I can't afford sleep right now. We could go to war at any day now and if the Gundams aren't ready by the time Orion decides to make their move, the Earth Sphere is going to take a beating. I don't want to be responsible for the loss of any more lives. It was bad enough once. I won't have it happen again. I refuse to let it happen again."

"Kat, what are you talking about?" the brunette asked, confused.

"I'm talking about that time I was taken by Treize. I had to help him with the production of Epyon as well as the Mercurius and the Vayeight. Those machines killed people, Duo. I won't let that happen again because of me."

"Kat, they were threatening to come after Quatre. You didn't have a choice." Duo tried to reason. "I would've done the same thing had it been me in your position."

"But it wasn't Quatre that they threatened to come after, Duo." Katarina confessed, her emotions bared because of her fatigue. "It was you they were threatening to come after. They were going to hurt you. I couldn't let something happen to you because I refused to help Treize with his stupid shop project. I didn't want to see any of you get hurt on my account. Don't you understand? This has been eating me alive for _years_. Sure Q had his run in with the Zero system, I had a choice. I could've just said no, but that bastard threw you into the mix and everything changed. I let my feelings get in the way once. I can't afford to make the same mistake twice."

Silence hung in the air as both of the room's occupants stared blankly into their coffee. Thoughts reeled through Duo's mind as he tried to make sense of what had been said to him. Katarina had felt something for him at some point but buried it deep within herself to prevent harm coming to him. Why now did the scene seven years ago make so much sense now when he couldn't make heads or tails of it at the time? What could be done to make Katarina overcome her guilt? Taking a sip of his beverage, he decided to speak. "Kat, you can't keep blaming yourself. What's done is done. You can't change the past. You're not just hurting yourself by clinging onto it." told her, pausing. "Do you have any idea of how long I blamed myself for the deaths of Father Maxwell and Sister Helen? Many, many years. I felt a part of me dying every day that I held onto that guilt. One day, I finally realized that things happen for a reason. You might not know what that reason is right then, but one day it'll just dawn on you."

Sipping her coffee also, Katarina refused to look at him. "What was the reason then, Duo? What was the reason for the deaths of the two people closest to you?"

Duo sighed before answering. "It was to give me strength. It was to help me realize that I could survive on my own. I really think you should go to bed now, Kat. You're even looking sleepy now."

"I'm fine." she responded curtly. "I don't have too much left to do on this blueprint. I'll see you at breakfast, Duo. Goodnight."

The God of Death left without another word. Instead, he leaned his back against the closed door and listened as Katarina began to cry before turning up her stereo. His own depression found him as he stood there with no intention of moving until she came out of that office. Listening to the lyrics, he wondered why she tortured herself so.

_Behind those eyes lies the truth and grief_

_Behind those beautiful smiles I've seen tragedy_

_The flawless skin hides the secrets within_

_Silent forces that secretly ignite your sins_

_Fly away, fly away_

_From the torch of blame _

_They haunt you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Never lived, Never died_

_Your life has been denied_

_They call you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Beyond these clouds you can hide all your tears_

_Beyond this world you'll be safe from their wicked fears_

_And in their hearts they fear your demands_

_You know their minds won't accept you, they'll never understand_

_Fly away, fly away_

_From the torch of blame_

_They haunt you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Never lived, never died_

_Your life has been denied_

_They call you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_On your own, I know you can make it_

_Truth or bone, I know you can shake it_

_Survive alone, I know you can take it_

_Fly away, fly away_

_From the torch of blame_

_They haunt you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Never lived, never died_

_Your life has been denied_

_They call you_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Fly away, fly away_

_Run away, run away_

_Hide away, hide away_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Fly away, fly away_

_Run away, run away_

_Hide away, hide away_

_Lucifer's Angel_

_Fly away, fly away_

_Run away, run away_

_Hide away, hide away_

_Lucifer's Angel_

...

A groan came from beneath the blankets. How had she ended up back in her quarters? The last thing she remembered was falling asleep on the completed Shenlong blueprint. Shaking her head, Katarina leapt from her bed and raced toward the shower. there was no way she could afford to lose any more time. Food could wait until lunch to be eaten. Breakfast wasn't all that important anyway. Flinging a clean pair of clothes onto the bed, she bolted for the shower, jumping under the warm jets.

...

Quatre wasn't normally one to watch his friends very closely, but today there seemed a need for it. Duo had been moping about all during breakfast and had barely even touched his food, which was uncommon for the pilot of Deathscythe. The others had decided that it was best to leave him to his own devises when the Arabian stopped and turned around, assuring them that they'd catch up with the other pilots later. So here he was, sitting across from Duo, trying to get him to tell him his ailment. His friend barely registered him as the blonde sat there, trying to gain his attention. Finally Quatre decided that this was getting him nowhere and he would have to use more drastic measures...like asking.

"Duo, I know something's bothering you. Care to share?"

The brunette looked up at him and gave a bemused laugh. "Did you know that they didn't threaten Katarina with coming after you when she was forced to work for Treize?"

Well, that answer threw a monkey wrench into the cogs. Quatre blinked in confusion. "What? She told you otherwise?"

"She told me they were threatening me. She didn't want anything to happen to me, so she agreed to help them."

"Okay, so she didn't want to tell you that. That's not what's bothering you."

Duo didn't answer right away. When he did, he seemed more down than he had been. "She's still blaming herself for the deaths caused by Treize because of those Gundams he created. She won't let it go."

Quatre smiled gently at him. So that was it. "That reminds me of someone else. How about you?"

"I know I blamed myself for that for a long time, but there's nothing for Kat to feel guilty about. She did what her heart told her to and that was the best. I don't understand."

"Maybe it's not up to you to understand. Just listen to her. My sister is a very complex person. Just give her time, Duo."

The brunette nodded as Quatre rose from his seat, smiling at him. "Maybe you're right, Q-man. So, where are you off to?"

"Well," Quatre said, humor shining in his voice, "my sister will most likely have gone straight to her office without eating. You did bring her back to her quarters, right?"

Duo nodded. "I did. She was exhausted and she wouldn't listen to me when I told her to go to bed."

The Arabian grabbed a tray of food from the counter and laughed. "You should know Kat by now, Duo. She doesn't listen to anyone when she sets her mind to something. I'll talk to her, though. I'll tell you how it goes."

...

By this point, she was sprinting down the hallway toward her office. The clock had been creeping up on eleven and she'd definitely slept too long. As she slid into the office, she was met with her brother's smiling face. With him was a tray of food and coffee and he had her blueprints in his hands looking at them. Was everyone going to look at those things before she handed them to Cassandra? Noticing her irritated look, Quatre chuckled. "Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, little sister?"

"No." Katarina growled. "I shouldn't have woken up in a bed at all. I fell asleep here."

"You have Duo to thank for that. He stayed outside of your office this morning until you fell asleep. Then he brought you back to your quarters. He and I have been worried about you. Ever since Cassandra's arrived, you've been working nonstop, night and day. We're starting to worry about you."

"I'm fine!" she exclaimed. "I appreciate the food, but I've got to get to work."

"Katarina!" Quatre snapped, which was highly unlike him. "Do you not see the people who care for you? Do you not see that what you're doing is selfish? No one can blame you for what happened with Treize! It's the past and it cannot be changed! Move forward!"

A watery film covered Katarina's eyes as she froze in her place. Quatre had risen from his seat and made his way to his sister. Wrapping his arms around her, the only movement was her trembling. "I'm sorry. Forgive me. Forgive me Quatre. Forgive me."

"Don't worry. All is forgiven. Aren't you supposed to be getting those blueprints to Cassandra?" he asked with a smile.

Katarina stepped back and wiped her eyes, smiling. "Nope, not quite yet. I think I'm going to eat first."

"That's my sister."

...

End Chapter

...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Zechs stared at the computer in front of him, his right eye twitching unpleasantly. Not only was he exhausted but _she_ was playing that music again, blasting it from the sound system inside of the Tallgeese cockpit. No one else in the hangar seemed bothered by this. In fact, several people were singing along! How could they stand it?

He couldn't stand it. It aggravated him. Which was why no one else was bothered by it and allowed her to continue. Not to mention he was sure she had threatened a few of them if they had complained.

The current song ended and another abruptly began, one he'd come to familiarize himself with as Dir en Grey's "Saku". It had been only a week since the work had begun, and already she was on his nerves. How could a woman do so much to him in so little time?

"You've made your point, Cassandra," She landed on the catwalk and glanced at him, a curious look forming on her face.

"I did? Didn't realize I was trying to make one,"

"That music,"

"Ah," She grinned, shrugging, and turned to meet Katarina as the other woman came up the catwalk carrying a few rolled up blueprints. "Ooh, what'cha got for me, darling?"

"I spent all night on these," Katarina cleared a space on the work desk Zechs was occupying and rolled them out, looking hopeful and a little proud.

"Not bad," Cassandra commented as she went through them. "They look good to me! If I were you, though, I'd take them to the pilots and let them make any adjustments they see fit and get these sent out to the factory ASAP. The sooner we can start molding that Gundanium alloy into parts, the better."

"No problem. Hey, um, have you had any luck?" Katarina turned to look at the Tallgeese and heard Cassandra sigh.

"Not really. Most of the circuitry is outdated and can't seem to properly run the program. It's been the problem all along. I've ordered the new circuits, several new memory drives and a bigger hard drive. Other than that, so far so good,"

"Are you going to be able to implement this system into the other Gundams when they're ready?"

"Well, no, not the same exact system, but something extremely similar and just as effective,"

"Why can't you do the same thing?"

"Let's just say I haven't figured out how to clone an artificial intelligence,"

"Artificial intelligence?"

"Yeah that's what-" She stopped, turning to look at Zechs. "You didn't tell anyone, did you? You think I'm crazy!"

"I…" Zechs' voice trailed off and he met her unhappy gaze. "It does sound a bit daft. I doubt they would go for it. Besides, nothing like what you're saying has ever been done before,"

Cassandra groaned and turned to Katarina. "This is lovely,"

"I don't see how it could be so hard to believe," Katarina admitted. "I've seen the Sandrock exhibit some signs of independent intelligence before. And that suit has sacrificed itself for Quatre on several occasions,"

"Thank you!" She turned on Zechs and stuck her tongue out at him. "Just you wait, you jerk! I'll have Tallgeese talking your head off in no time,"

He shifted uneasily in his seat and then sighed heavily. "If you believe that's what she can do, then fine, I'll go along with it,"

"Ugh! Men!" She turned and strode back to the rope stirrup and took it back up to the cock pit.

"Why are you being so difficult with her, Zechs?" Katarina asked as she glanced between him and the mobile suit. "I believe her,"

"I do, too, but the more I deny it, the more motivated she becomes and the more she gets done in a short period of time,"

Katarina blinked as he turned back to the computer and began running a few more simulations.

"Shouldn't you be getting those blueprints to the Gundam Pilots, Kat?"

"I, uh…yeah," She collected the documents and trotted off, leaving a smirking Zechs Merquise behind. Inside of the cockpit of the Tallgeese III Gundam, Cassandra rolled her shoulders and leaned back unhappily in the seat.

"He has no idea what you really are," She whispered, staring over at the computer screen to her left where she was running several programs and upgrading what little bit of the system she could upgrade without the proper parts. "You've been trying to so hard to talk to him this whole time and you haven't been able to get through. I'm gonna fix that, I promise,"

Shaking her head, she sat up and got back to work, straining her eyes to make out the data that was becoming all the more difficult to read with every sleepless hour that passed by.

"You look tired," Zechs said, suddenly appearing in the cockpit. "Why don't you clock out and get some rest. You've been at this for days, and until those new parts come in, there's really nothing else you can do."

"I need to upgrade the system,"

"I can do that," Zechs offered, looking sincere. "Cass, you're not doing anyone any good by working your body to the breaking point. Trust me, I know how that can inhibit your mind. I can handle the system upgrade, I promise,"

She just looked at him and then chuckled, conceding to the fact that he was, after all, right about that. She was exhausted and she couldn't afford to make any careless mistakes in the programming, otherwise she'd have to start all over from scratch again.

"I guess I could use a few hours of shuteye." Stretching languidly, Cassandra smiled at him, then hopped up and left the cockpit to clock out and get some rest. Zechs plopped himself into the seat she'd just left and studied the screen before him, finding himself quite impressed with her progress. She was a hard worker and was extremely efficient in everything she did. He began to realize that he wouldn't be surprised if she really could get Tallgeese to act on its own. She seemed so sensitive about it, too. She had to be telling the truth. She really had come up with the greatest mobile suit system in the universe. Now, if they could just get it to work.

...

"Damn," Duo whispered from his spot against the catwalk railing where he, Wufei and three other off duty mechanics were leaning, watching Noin, Sally and Katarina at work.

"Those tank tops were a damn good idea," Tilting his head to the side, one of the mechanics checked out Katarina as she moved, working up a good sweat in the process. Her beautiful skin was glistening with the sweat and he had to fight to keep from licking his lips.

Duo glared at him. "Get your eyes on something else, techie! She's off limits,"

"Sheesh, touchy,"

"Get your asses back to work!" Cassandra shouted as she stepped past them. "And quit looking at those women like they're some kind of rare meat! Go on! Move, I said! GET!" At this point, all three of the women had stopped their progress to turn and glare at the gathered men. Wufei hastened away, looking disgusted, while Duo and the other three mechanics slipped away looking disappointed. Cassandra shook her head, her hands on her hips, and looked towards the women.

"I'm heading in to get some sleep. If they start dawdling just put your jackets back on. That'll run them off,"

The women giggled and got back to work as Cassandra disappeared up the catwalk.

"She's a tough one," Noin chuckled.

"Eh, she's really good at what she does," Katarina defended. "Besides, I think she's really on to something with that Tallgeese system. Zechs thinks she is, too, even though he won't admit that to her,"

"Really?" Noin and Sally perked up, intrigued.

"What? He says if he tells her she's crazy, she works that much faster,"

Noin laughed for a few minutes, loud and hard and full of mirth. "That sounds like Zechs all right. In that case, if he's already pulling that stunt on her, he'll have her going out of her head for him in no time,"

"Huh?"

"Oh, come on!" Noin lowered her voice and grinned. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Kat looked between the two older women, confused but curious.

"All the sexual tension between them," Sally chimed in, grinning. "I think they really kind of fancy each other,"

"They argue every two seconds,"

"Like a married couple," Noin muttered, smirking. "Nope, I don't think it'll be too much longer before they get into one really bad fight and end up in each other's arms."

"Oh, wow," Kat looked back towards the Tallgeese where she knew Zechs had taken over the system upgrade and grinned a little. "You know, I think this calls for a little girl time," She turned to face the direction Cassandra had gone and smiled. "I'll be right back!"

...

Cassandra had just reached her room when Katarina caught up to her. "Hey,"

"Hey!" Kat plastered a huge grin on her face. "Me and the gals are going to get a few drinks in the mess hall tonight. We were just wondering if you'd like to join us?"

"Sure," Cassandra smiled softly. It was the first time since coming here that she'd been invited to anything other than periodic update meetings. "I'd like that,"

"Ok!" Kat turned and headed back to the hangar, leaving Cassandra to attend to the business at hand. She stretched and headed into her room, surprised to see Howard waiting for her.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," She muttered, lowering her arms from her stretch and closing the door behind her. "Where have you been all week, Howie?"

"Running a few errands. You know, the usual,"

"Uh-huh,"

"So? Any progress?"

"A little," Cassandra murmured, yawning. "There's still a lot to be done. I'm waiting on the new parts I ordered to get here. They should start showing up tomorrow. I had to order them from like eighty different places," She shook her head, plopping down onto the bed beside him. "I ordered a couple of everything, just in case there's a short…"

Howard nodded, approving of the move and then sighed quietly.

"What is it?"

"Lady Une pulled me into her office today. She's not happy about the tension between yourself and Wufei. She wants it resolved,"

"What did you tell her?"

"Only that what happened in the past has created a bit of unrest between you," Howard shook his head. "Sweetheart, I'm afraid that if you two get into it again like you did the other day, she's going to pull you both into the room in front of everyone and make you try and resolve it,"

"Howard…"

"I know you don't want to relive everything that happened that day, sweetie, so I think it would be best if you and Wufei try to patch things up,"

"I've tried before, Howard. I don't know how many times I have to tell that idiot that it wasn't my fault. And I'm not apologizing! I did nothing wrong," She grumbled, looking terribly unhappy. "I tried, Howard…"

"I know you did, kiddo. I know you did," Sighing, he patted her leg then stood up, heading for the door. "Why don't you get a shower and get some rest. You look like you could use it,"

"I will," She whispered, watching him leave. She looked down at her hands and closed her eyes, unwilling to face the day any more.

_ "No, Meiran! You can't! She's not ready for battle yet!"_

_ "I'm taking her! She's our only chance,"_

_ "Meiran, NO!" The girl spun around, pinning Cassandra to the wall, a serious, desperate look on her face._

_ "I have to do this!"_

_ "You can't! If you take her out there, you'll die!"_

_ "It is my choice! I will not let my home be destroyed!" Meiran backed down and started to run for the mobile suit, Cassandra quickly following._

_ "I don't want to fight you, Meiran, but I will,"_

_ Meiran stopped and turned, looking unhappy. "And I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you get in my way. I am doing this, whether you like it or not. I will make him proud to have me as his wife,"_

_ "Meiran!" Cassandra dove at the woman, but a few seconds into the fight, everything had gone black. By the time she came to again…the Tallgeese was gone, and so was her friend._

Cassandra choked on a sob and shook her head, getting up and quickly moving for the shower. She needed to forget that any of that had ever happened. It was too painful a memory to relive again. If she and Wufei didn't patch things up, the world would have to know how she'd let her best friend die.

...

"Hey up there!" Howard shouted, gaining Zechs' attention.

"Howard," Zechs left the cockpit and joined the older man on the catwalk. "You're back. Did everything go well?"

"Eh, for the most part. Listen, I need a favor,"

"I'll do my best,"

"I need you to run interference for me between Cassandra and Wufei," Howard shook his head, seeing the stunned look on Zechs' face and the flash of doubt in his eyes. "I know things are tense between them, but what happened to create this tension is something that's left a black hole in Cassandra's heart. What happened, it's really painful to her. Une says if they get into another fight, she's going to drag them into the conference room and make them duke it out in front of everyone so the peace can be kept. If that happens, I'm afraid Cassandra might leave. She might try to take the Tallgeese with her."

"She won't get far,"

"That's why I'm troubled by this,"

"What happened between them, Howard?"

"Ah, I guess you were bound to find out sooner or later. Come with me. I'd rather keep this quiet,"

...

Zechs stepped out of Howard's office and sighed deeply, running a hand through his long platinum blond hair. No wonder things were so crazy between those two. That explained why Cassandra was so determined to do what she claimed she could do. To prove something to Wufei, to make him respect her again.

It was sad that the man didn't want to give her a chance. Especially when his wife's death hadn't been her fault.

He sighed and headed down the hallway towards his room, sure that the next few days were going to be strained, to say the least.

"Zechs!"

He turned, forcing a small smile as Noin ran up to him. "Have you seen Cassie anywhere? She was supposed to meet us for drinks an hour ago and she never showed. Kat went to her room, but she wasn't there. She wasn't in the hangar either, so have you seen her?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "No. The last time I saw her was when I told her to go get some rest. She wasn't in her room?"

"No, the door was unlocked so Kat said she went in and checked."

"Were her keys there?"

"I don't know,"

"I'll see if I can find her," Zechs turned, ignoring the shower he so desperately wanted, and headed towards the elevators. If her car wasn't in the garage, he had a feeling he might know where she'd gone.

...

Memorial park was dark and dismal looking at this time of night. Zechs pulled his car to a stop next to Cassandra's Mustang and sighed quietly. He'd been right after all. The only problem now was figuring out how to approach her without scaring her off, or worse.

He got out of the car and quietly headed up to the gate, slipping inside and starting up the cobble stone trail. In the center of the park was a stone sculpture memorial of the L5 colony that had been destroyed in AC 194 by Treize and the Specials. Wufei's colony. A0206. Those who had belonged to the colony and had survived, mostly those who had been away from it at the time, often came to leave flowers and to pray before it.

He could imagine Cassandra sitting on the bench in front of it, drowning in misery and sorrow because, despite the fact that she wasn't at fault for what happened, she blamed herself just as strongly as Wufei blamed her. But he wondered how many times the so called warrior came to this memorial to honor his dead wife's memory.

He paused at the end of the trail and took in the sight of the sculpture, lit up beautifully with several small spotlights that surrounded it. As he'd suspected, several bouquets of flowers surrounded its bass. He just stared at it for a long moment, lost in the majestic air that surrounded it. A good place for meditation.

"I figured Howard would send someone after me. I just didn't think he'd send you,"

His reverie broken, Zechs looked over to the bench at his left and walked silently towards her. She looked so different out of her Preventer uniform that he almost didn't recognize her. Her hair was down and slightly styled. She'd let it dry on its own, allowing for the natural wave to take over. It was really quite a pleasing look for her. Still, she was miserable and alone.

He sat next to her, his hands in his jacket pockets. He was silent as he leaned back and stared at the memorial with her, knowing that all she needed was someone to sit with her.

"I suppose he told you?"

"Yes,"

She nodded, sighing and turned to look back at the memorial. "I swear she's here,"

Zechs turned his head and glanced at her, watching the emotion swimming in her eyes.

"I can sit here and talk to her all day and leave here feeling as if everything is ok again. She has to be here, watching out over me. I think she's trying to convince me that it's not my fault,"

"From what I understand, the woman made a decision based on how she felt. It was her choice. How can you be at fault? Howard said you tried to stop her,"

"She could have lived," Cassandra whispered. "Tallgeese could have saved her. When I came to, I got up and ran to the control panel in the main hangar and when I saw that she was already in battle and was ignoring the Tallgeese's attempts to help her and to turn her back, I shut down the system. I knew Tallgeese would be destroyed, so I shut down her brain and downloaded it onto this," She lifted the memory card from the necklace around her neck. "I did what I could to preserve the Tallgeese, but I did nothing to try and save Meiran."

"I don't believe that,"

"Shenlong was right there. I knew how to pilot it. But I didn't even try to go after her," She shook her head, the tears spilling down her cheeks. "Wufei did what I couldn't. He tried to save her. He didn't care about the suit, he just wanted to save her and preserve her life. When she died, he blamed me. And so did I. Zechs, I could have helped save her and instead I saved a damned computer!"

"You told me that the Tallgeese was alive. You gave it life, remember? How is there anything wrong with preserving that?"

"Meiran was my best friend, Zechs. She was flesh and blood. She couldn't be duplicated in a computer system or rebuilt if something happened!"

"I don't think she would blame you, Cassandra. You tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen to you. It was her choice, no matter what you did afterwards. You said she was fighting the Tallgeese and ignoring the help she was being offered by her, correct?"

"Yes,"

"Then how is it your fault? It was her choice to make and she made it. Do not dishonor her memory by thinking otherwise. All of our actions as human beings have consequences. We all must make decisions that will determine the course of our lives. Whether it be the blood on our hands or the hurt in our hearts, it doesn't matter. We are all still human and we all make mistakes," He lifted his hands, staring at them and shaking his head. "In the end, all we have is each other. We have the choice to move forward or to stand still in time. In the end, it's our decision. No one else's." He stared at his hands and closed his blue eyes to block out the images that sprang to mind. "Every action we take, we are held accountable for. Yes, Meiran could have been saved, but not by you. Not by Wufei or the Tallgeese. Only she could have saved herself."

"You weren't there, Zechs,"

"I didn't have to be," He said sharply, turning to gaze at her. "And even if I had been, it wouldn't change my perspective now,"

"I doubt that,"

"And you're allowed to. For now," Zechs looked back up at the memorial and tried to let the atmosphere calm and relax him again. "Do you want to honor her memory?"

"Of course,"

"Then get the Tallgeese system working again," Zechs rose from the bench, turning to look back down at her. "Prove us all wrong. Make her proud,"

Cassandra snorted. "I can try,"

"Then try," He turned back towards the path and smirked a little. "I'll give you another hour to get back to HQ. After that, I'm sending Duo after your ass,"

"Gee, thanks," When she was alone again, Cassandra let her eyes take in the memorial statue again while her fingers stroked and clutched the memory card at her neck. He was right. The best way for Cassandra to honor Meiran's memory, aside from making peace with Wufei, was to get the Tallgeese back to her original glory. "I will do you proud, my sister. I promise,"

...

End Chapter


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Swirling her finger around the rim of her third glass, Kat sighed as she glanced at the door once again. "Where do you think she is? There is no way Cas would be late because of a wardrobe malfunction."

Sally laughed at this. "Nope. Cas doesn't seem like that type of woman at all, does she? I wonder if she got 'held up'."

"Oh, I like that possibility. Zechs always thinks he can get the girl. Let's see if it works this time." Noin snickered.

The air was filled with the scent of alcohol and smoke. The dimly lit room thumped with the loud music and low hum of conversation stretched out over the bar's interior. The knocking of the cue ball echoed from the pool tables as well as the other various noises. The three women had already been occupying their table for about an hour and a half now and they were very well inebriated from their boredom. Little did they know that three Gundam pilots sat not too far away from them, but far enough away not to be noticed. Duo hadn't taken his eyes off of the table for a second. Kat definitely looked better with her hair down. Quatre sipped at his drink while Wufei huffed impatiently, taking another shot.

"Maxwell, why are you yet again wasting our time? Your stalker-like tendencies are starting to bore me." Wufei barked.

"Chill out, man." Duo said in a hushed voice. "I just followed her here to make sure she didn't get hurt."

"The two onna's with Katarina won't allow her to get hurt. Let me assure you that."

Quatre chuckled lightly. "You know he can't help it, Wufei. Duo's very overprotective of my little sister."

Wufei snorted and was about to comment when he noticed the attention of the three women change and he yanked Duo's braid to turn his head in the direction that they were looking. In walked Cassandra, albeit a little late, with _Zechs_. The God of Death felt his mouth drop open as the two found their own table to sit at. Not only did this scenario seem impossible, it also seemed improbable. There was no way in hell that those two would casually sit together and have a drink without ripping one another's heads off. Turning his head back to the table, a frenzied conversation had been struck up amongst the three women.

"Did you see that?" Kat hissed as she leaned in toward the others. "Cas walked in with _Zechs_."

"I see that." Noin said back quickly. "I wouldn't have seen that coming in a million years. Zechs is going to try to knock it down...definitely."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Sally asked, leaning in to join them. "It looks kind of serious."

"There's only one way to find out." Noin decided as she casually rose from her chair.

Katarina stumbled a bit as she moved to rise. Sally caught her with her own swaying form and they moved to follow Noin. The dark-haired woman shifted in and out of the throngs of bodies that were dancing all over the floor. Stooping down a bit followed by the other two, Noin managed to find their booth and crouch down behind it. Kat and Sally joined her seconds later. The conversation was difficult to hear over all of the background noise, but with the training both Noin and Sally had had, it was easy to focus on. Katarina kind of sat there and pretended to be listening as she swayed back and forth.

"Weren't you supposed to meet the others here?"

"I didn't see them when we came in." Cassandra said and there was some tinkling.

A chuckle rose from the booth, that had to be Zechs. "You didn't look very hard, did you?"

"What are you trying to say? That I would rather hang out with you? No thanks."

"She dissed us?" Katarina squeaked, earning her a hiss from Noin.

"So when do you expect the Tallgeese system to be finished? I'd rather have it online as soon as possible."

"I have to have the right parts before I can even upgrade the system. Besides, if you keep asking me, I'll just take longer."

When a growl was heard, Katarina rose to her feet, gaining the attention of the two at the booth. Cassandra stared at her in surprise and blinked. Zechs held a blank look on his face. "I knew it!" she exclaimed. "You two _like_ each other!"

Cassandra didn't know whether to blush or to laugh as Noin and Sally tried to pull her back down and get away quickly. Too bad Kat fell into them, knocking them all over.

...

Loud peals of laughter got Duo's attention right away. As he glanced over, the pile of three women caused him to blink before rising to his feet. Wufei, who was currently in a happy, slightly alcoholic state, grabbed his braid to prevent him from going anywhere. The brunette gave a surprised yelp. "Where do you think you're going, Maxwell?"

He merely pointed. "Well, it seems like Kat is smothering under Noin and Sally. I'd say they need a little help."

"Let's go, then, Duo." Quatre said as he rose from his seat as well.

As they made their way over to the booth where the youngest Winner child was creating quite a ruckus, Cassandra and Zechs had also risen from their seats to see what was going on and Cassandra was holding her sides from laughing so hard. Duo could barely make out Kat's form, but he located a pale arm and wrapped his fingers around it. With gentle force, he pulled the giggling blonde to her feet. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she took a deep breath and seemed to really focus on him; examining him almost. Before he could ask any questions, she walked around behind him and then back.

"Where's your tale?" Kat asked, earning a snicker from Cas. "I remember you having a tale. You know, poofy and soft?"

"Kat, I'm not-" Duo started.

"Koga, did you change your hair?" the blonde asked, tugging on his braid. "I thought you wore a ponytail."

Quatre leaned over to Duo and whispered in his ear. "What is she talking about?"

"Do me a favor, Q." Duo grumbled. "Watch Inuyasha sometime. You'll see."

Wufei snickered until he realized who was present and then he fell silent. A scowl covered his face as he locked eyes with Cassandra. Kat unconsciously huddled closer to Duo as if she sensed the calm before the storm. The small area around them seemed to be suddenly devoid of sound. Lightning seemed to pass between them that no one dared to step between.

...

End Chapter


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Cassandra shifted on her feet, turning her eyes away from Wufei. Someone had to break the tension and it might as well be her. She got a good look at the others and suppressed a sigh. She would never fit in with them because Wufei wouldn't allow it. They couldn't get along and probably never would because of what lay between them.

"Are you two always going to be like this?" Quatre asked quietly, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "You have to work together, you might as well try to get along,"

"I tried that once before, she doesn't deserve any kindness from me,"

"Oh, because you're just completely innocent!" Cassandra growled, turning on her heel and tossing herself through the door.

"Wufei," Zechs said softly. "Drop it. We need her here,"

"You, maybe. Not me," Wufei turned tail and stalked away back to his table to finish off another shot without saying another word to the group. Zechs hung his head and felt like shouting.

"It must be bad," Kat whispered from her spot against Duo who was now having to completely support her. "to have that kind of resentment between them,"

"It's bad," Zechs admitted, turning towards the door to see Cassandra leaving for the base again. "I just hope they can keep it at bay for a little while."

"We could always give them some gloves and let them go at it for a while," Duo offered, chuckling. No one else seemed to find this funny, so he wiped the smile off of his face, wrapped his arm more securely around Katarina's waist and tried to sound less strained. "I guess I should get Kat back to the base. See you all in the morning,"

"I guess we'll head back, too," Noin sighed dramatically. "What about you, Zechs?"

"Go on, I need to have a word with Wufei,"

"Don't get yourself killed. He's had a few drinks," Sally warned, glancing in the Chinese man's direction. "Tell him I'll leave the door unlocked for him,"

Zechs nodded and watched the group vacate the bar, then slowly moved to stand next to Wufei.

"Is there a problem?" Wufei asked without looking up from his drink.

"There is," Zechs confirmed flatly. "Cassandra is very important to this project, and unless you want to confront what happened in front of the entire Preventer population, I suggest you back off. She's doing her job so you just do yours."

"It's none of your business, Merquise,"

Zechs slammed his hands down onto the table and stared directly into Wufei's face. "I'm your superior officer who is also the officer who has to work in close quarters with Cassandra. Therefore I am making it my business. Do anything else to distress her while she's working and I'll personally see you kicked off the team,"

"And who else will you get to pilot my Gundam?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find someone," Zechs snarled, then turned on his heel and strode out of the door. Wufei glared after him, silently seething over the threat that had just been dealt to him. Once everyone realized what kind of a person Cassandra was, they wouldn't be so quick to defend her. It was only a matter of time before the bottom would fall out. And when it happened, he'd be there to put the bitch back in her place.

...

"You're up early,"

Cassandra ignored Zechs as he stepped down onto the cockpit platform and looked in on her. She looked horribly unpleasant, as she had for the past week. He had hoped that after a few days her mood would have lifted, but from what he could tell, Wufei wasn't doing much to allow for that. It had been a week since the incident at the bar, and she'd barely spoken a word to anyone since, save for Howard, but even those brief conversations were strained. From what he'd seen so far, Wufei had backed off only a tiny bit. He wasn't willing to make a public scene, but it didn't stop him from muttering insults every time he passed by or when Cassandra's name was brought up in conversation.

Zechs and Howard, as well as Lady Une, had all been keeping a sharp eye on both of them, knowing it wouldn't be too much longer before one or the other just snapped. So far, it seemed the only person ready to snap was Cassandra, and Wufei seemed to be doing everything he could to make sure that happened. He didn't want her here and that much was becoming painfully clear with each passing day.

"Cassandra, the crane is here,"

"What?"

"To lift the top of the head off for you,"

"Oh," Cassandra shook herself out of her stupor and sighed quietly. "Let's get her up then," Zechs moved aside to let her out and joined her back down on the platform while Quatre and a few members of the Maganac Corp. set up the crane and successfully lifted the topmost shielding of the Tallgeese's head from its foundation. The cockpit was now completely open, as well as the sophisticated brain network of the suit. Now that she had a better view of the entire thing, she'd be better able to work on the system. Making sure that the head was secured to the rafters, Quatre joined Cassie on the platform.

"That should do it. It'll give you better access now," Quatre grinned at Cassandra's approving nod. "You know, everyone's getting very curious about this system you've set up. Rumor has it that Tallgeese originally had a positronic brain,"

"She did," Cassandra nodded, not volunteering any more information on the subject. Quatre glanced at Zechs who just shrugged indifferently and turned back to the computer before him.

"Well, anyway, I need to get going. The first of the Gundam skeletons should be arriving within the hour. Um, good luck with the suit,"

"Thanks," Cassandra sighed and rubbed her face.

"Well?"

"Well what?" She asked, glancing over at Zechs. "I've done everything I can. I can't do anything else until the parts I ordered start coming in. Still…I guess I could start clearing out that computer system,"

"Need help?"

"No, not really. Just going to rip it all out and toss it anyway,"

He just stared at her, ready to protest, but that little smile of hers made him stop. "You're sure this can work,"

"It has to," Cassandra whispered, then climbed back up into the cockpit and then into the newly opened computer brain platform. It was advanced beyond her expectations. Zechs had done quite a job on the suit, and some of the programming she'd be able to work with. The rest of it though, well…it would all just have to go. She got on her knees and got straight to work.

Zechs shook his head and stepped into Howard's office where the old man was arguing over the phone with one of the shipping companies and looking extremely agitated. Zechs sat, smiling, and just waited for Howard to finish his call.

"Sorry," Howard sighed as he slammed the phone down and glowered at it. "The first shipment is running late and Une is getting horribly pushy about getting the Tallgeese system updated. Ah, but it's just so hard to find the right quality and quantity parts required for such a system. It's the reason Cassandra only ever was able to make the one. These things take time and I know they're getting her riled up about it. She's very sensitive on the subject, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"I have faith in her. She'll get it done,"

"Yes, she will." Howard chuckled quietly. "And we'll never hear the end of it. But what she says is true. She actually did what she claims she can do. Let me tell you, it takes some getting used to talking to a mobile suit, too,"

"Yeah, I'm not too sure how I feel about that just yet."

"She's got something to prove, you know. Despite Wufei's attempts to discourage her, she's working at a faster and more efficient pace than I have ever seen her work before. When she first created the artificial intelligence for the original suit…ah man, you should have seen her, Zechs. She was so proud of everything she'd done and she wasn't afraid to interact with it, either. Once she got the system installed, she talked to that suit like it was a real person. After a while, you start to forget that it's just a mobile suit with a working brain. She's actually quite amusing when you meet her. But don't be surprised if she exhibits some of Cassie's qualities. She is just like her creator, as you can probably imagine,"

"Cassandra says she'll be able to interlink the Tallgeese's brain with the other Gundams through the computer and the Zero System."

"Yes. She's already shown me the programming and the schematics. We will, of course, have to send them through several simulations and tests before the system will be tested on the pilots, but I'm pretty confident it'll all work out. She knows what she's doing,"

Zechs nodded, glancing out through the window to see Cassandra unplugging everything to do with the mobile suit's functions. He flinched, looking away, and tried to ignore Howard's mirthful chuckle.

"Don't worry, Zechs. Tallgeese will still be Tallgeese when she's done with her,"

"Not worried," Yet he still refused to look back out into the hangar. Howard's phone suddenly rang and, exasperated, the older man answered it, allowing Zechs a few moments of silent contemplation. The more he heard Cassandra explaining the system to him, the more he believed it was possible, but he knew everyone was starting to get apprehensive about the whole thing. Rumor was spreading quickly about the system that would supposedly allow for the real time interaction between pilot and suit, as if two real people were interacting, instead of man and machine. It had never been done before, so of course everyone was a little nervous about it, but he'd seen the schematics and he'd seen the way Cassandra's eyes lit up when she talked about it.

And now Howard had just admitted to actually talking to the suit when it was first created! _After a while, you start to forget that it's just a mobile suit with a working brain…_

"Yes!" Howard hung up the phone and left his chair. "The first shipment has arrived,"

...

By the end of the first month of production, a small group had started to form around the Tallgeese. Cassandra familiarized herself with a small group of mechanics and engineers that would help her upgrade the weapons systems while integrating the same systems with the Tallgeese's positronic brain.

Zechs stared out at his Gundam through the window of Howard's office. Duo was beside him, admiring the progress taking place.

"That is one advanced piece of equipment," He muttered as he gazed at the huge half orb that Cassandra was currently standing in. "What's she doing now?"

"I have no idea," Zechs admitted, shaking his head. "But we're making progress. All of the systems are almost back online and synchronized with the new brain. All of the parts are in and she's already tested it a few times. We still have a few things we need to tweak, but I gather we'll be downloading the artificial intelligence into the brain by the end of the week,"

"That's good news," Duo turned to glance at Howard and the object sitting in front of him. "So this is what she's going to be using to link the Gundams together with the Tallgeese, huh? A headset? Seems simple enough,"

Howard shrugged. "Just for the testing phase. She wants to make sure they can all be linked successfully before she intalls the permanent interlink coms in the cockpits of the Gundams."

"Ok, just clarify this for me one more time,"

Howard sighed and glanced up at Duo, ignoring Zechs' amused chuckle. "How is this going to work again?"

"The Zero System in each Gundam is going to be linked with the Tallgeese's positronic brain via the interlink Cassandra is working on. It'll lessen the neural stress from Zero while you're all being trained. And it will allow for Tallgeese to take over your cockpit if something happens to hinder your ability to pilot your Gundam,"

"Ok, I think I get it,"

"Duo, the Tallgeese is the only suit here that will be able to act on its own should something happen to me in battle. In other words, she'll be aware of me just as I am aware of her. If I get hurt, she'll know and she'll be able to decide whether or not to leave the battle or to stay and fight," Zechs stated, staring out at the Tallgeese in a bit of reverence.

Duo nodded, finally understanding. "But our systems won't do that unless Tallgeese tells them to?"

"That's the theory," Howard offered. "But seeing as how we've never tried out a system like this before, we don't know if that will work or not. Which is why Cassandra wants the system linked through these headsets first. Since the Gundams won't be completed for another couple of months, she's going to try linking them through the simulation cockpits for the training. If they give positive results, she'll move on to integrating it with the Zero System permanently,"

"Ah," Duo nodded, then sat down behind another desk in the room. Zechs finally turned away from the window as Cassandra stepped down onto the catwalk to accept another shipment of materials. He spotted Katarina joining in on the project and smiled at Cassandra's enthusiasm towards the girl's offer of help. Those two were getting along well, meaning Cassandra had a friend. Well, several if you included Noin and Sally, but those two were too busy with the rest of the goings-on in the hangar that they weren't around much. And Sally seemed to be keeping Wufei so busy he never had much of a chance to venture down to this end of the platform, for which Zechs was grateful. The temporary peace awarded them for the lack of communication between Cassie and Wufei was very much enjoyed. Spirits were back up and things were going much smoother than normal.

"Duo, what are your plans for the Deathscythe?" Zechs asked as he took a seat in front of Howard's desk and accepted the bottle of water offered to him.

"I haven't really decided on too much. Since the skeleton is barely done, I haven't really thought too much about it. I did add onto Kat's blueprints before she sent them off to the factory. The moldings will be similar to the last version, but with several sharper improvements. I need a more aerodynamic suit. As for weapons? Well, we've added a few more holds for ammo than before and the beam scythe is getting quite the makeover. New power source, too. I was even thinking about adding some heat seeking missiles."

"Not bad," Zechs admitted, smiling a little. "I asked Heero about the Wing Zero earlier, but he's just as quiet about that as ever. I did, however, see the detailed order for the moldings of its wings. Very incredible design. It's a wonder we have the funding,"

"We don't," Howard admitted, sighing. "But apparently someone else does. I'm guessing it was the same people who sent us that shipment of Gundanium Alloy two months ago, and Cassie has her own funds,"

"The doctors?"

"That would be my guess," Howard shrugged, stretching. "Well, at any rate, things are getting done. The skeletons are almost complete and the first set of moldings should start arriving within the day. I've also heard from engineering this morning and am happy to say that the first three vernier engines for the Wing Zero, Deathscythe and Heavyarms Gundams will be arriving within the next two weeks."

"Excellent," Duo grinned, but a sudden explosion made all three men leap out of their seats and race back out into the hangar.

"Cassie! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine!" The woman snapped, shoving one of the mechanics out of her way. "Damn! It overloaded…"

"Is that going to be hard to fix?" Katarina asked, watching the smoke billowing in small grey puffs from the inside of the positronic brain.

"God, I hope not," She looked at Howard and shrugged. "See why I ordered extra parts? That fuse I used isn't strong enough to handle all the weapons systems at once. I had a feeling that would happen,"

"How far back does that set us?" Zechs asked as he came to stand next to her, watching the smoke as it drifted into the air.

"Pfft, a week?" Cassandra groaned. "Guess I should go see what can be done. Hopefully it didn't damage the hub too much. I really don't want to have to redo all that, too,"

"Didn't this happen the last time?" Howard asked, grinning stupidly.

"Yeah, except the last time it happened, you did it,"

"HA! Now we're even,"

Cassandra laughed, shaking her head. "Don't get too excited about it, Howie! If I remember correctly, you nearly destroyed it. A fuse just blew for me,"

"Yeah, yeah. Hang on a sec and I'll get you a better one,"

"Thanks,"

"Here, boost," Zechs offered as she moved to climb back inside and retrieve the ruined fuse. Howard returned a second later with what definitely looked better equipped to handle the charge it was going to undergo. Duo relaxed beside him, but it seemed the explosion had caught many people's attention. Out of the corner of his eye, Zechs could swear he saw a smirk on Wufei's face, but forced himself to ignore it. The man was getting insufferable.

"Is that better?" Howard called, watching as Cassandra worked in the new fuse and got everything rewired.

"It should be…Zechs, trying moving the arm!"

Zechs turned to the computer behind him and did as asked, then frowned. "No response!"

"Damn, damn, and double damn!" Cassandra growled, standing up and glaring down at it. "I guess it was more than just the fuse that blew." She knelt down again and tweaked a few things, examining it for a moment before nodding. "Try it again!"

This time, the arm responded to Zechs' inputted command and it did it with ease. Nothing negative happened this time, which made Cassandra relax tremendously. It meant the new power source had been successfully integrated with the positronic brain.

"Are we still on schedule then?"

"Yup!" Cassandra called down, giving Howard a thumbs up before she rejoined them on the catwalk. "See? Aren't you glad I do things the way I do?"

"Depends on what level of heart attack you're trying to put me through," Howard muttered, waving his arm dismissively. "So, only a week until you download her into the brain, eh?"

"Hopefully," Cassandra murmured, turning to look back up at the suit. "If all goes well. I'm still waiting on a few parts that I hope to get by tomorrow and then it's on to the programming. Once I get all of the bugs out of the system, we'll be ready to turn her on and see what happens,"

"I have faith in you,"

"Someone has to," Cassandra chuckled. She suddenly seemed to notice the group gathering around them at the same time Katarina did.

"GET BACK TO WORK!" Both women shouted, causing them to chuckle at themselves. Those gathered around scrambled away to get back to their stations, leaving the Tallgeese's team behind. Kat glanced at Cassandra and smiled softly.

"So by the end of this week we'll be able to tell Tallgeese to grab hold of Wufei and wave him around for a while?"

Cassandra laughed heartily. "Honey, we won't have to tell her or ask her to do that. She'll probably do it on her own,"

"Excellent!" Katarina grinned. "He's getting on my nerves with all this bullshit about women being in charge of the Gundams,"

"He's just jealous our balls are bigger," Noin declared as she stepped between them carrying a box of tools. Those standing around howled in laughter as the other woman trotted off to help Quatre with whatever he was doing.

Zechs, Howard and Duo all just shook their heads and returned to Howard's office but only had a few moments of peace before Lady Une was calling for an immediate meeting.

Work wasn't completely abandoned. Several mechanics remained behind to continue while the main officers headed upstairs to the conference room where Lady Une and one of the Joint Chiefs were already waiting. They waited a few moments to allow everyone to pile into the room before they began their grim report.

"Intelligence has come back to us from several strategically placed spies within Orion's ranks," Une turned towards the TV screen behind her, hit a button on the remote she had and turned back to the group. "This is the first physical bit of proof that we have that confirms that Orion is building mobile suits. From what we've been able to gather, and from what you can see from these pictures, there are two skeletons so far. We haven't been able to get hold of any kind of plans, but we do know that their basic design stems from that of the Tallgeese. We are confident that there are only two new Gundams being built,"

"Excuse me, Ma'am, but just two?" Quatre asked, not entirely impressed.

"That's all they need," The Joint Chief at the front of the table said grimly. "Show them,"

Lady Une sighed and then hit another button. What the group saw on the screen was completely shocking.

"That's ridiculous!" Duo shouted, staring. "How can they have built that many mobile suits without our knowing?!"

"Wouldn't someone have noticed all of that Neo Titanium being shipped back and forth?"

"You would think," Lady Une sighed quietly. "So far, we haven't been able to trace a single ounce of the stuff to anyone. Whomever Orion is getting the Neo Titanium from isn't an official vender. None of their supplies are on record. We can't trace it,"

"This is bad," Trowa murmured. "Mariemeia had these kinds of resources, but even she didn't know where it had all come from. Apparently Treize had had those suits built before he'd even died. But we hadn't been able to trace them back to him directly. Everything was under the Barton Foundation,"

"This is true, but we've looked into what was left of the Barton Foundation and found absolutely nothing. All of their suits were destroyed. We have no way of knowing where any of these suits came from, nor do we know if they're manned or dolls,"

Several groans issued from the crowd in the room. So much for high spirits.

"Matthews, what's the progress on the Tallgeese?" Lady Une suddenly asked.

"We should be able to download her intelligence into the positronic brain by the end of this week. But she won't be ready for combat for a few weeks still. Zechs is going to have to undergo some heavy training before it's ready for battle,"

"How long?"

"A month, maybe more,"

"We may have that kind of time still," Lady Une looked to Zechs. "Are you confident that you'll be able to handle the suit?"

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Good," Lady Une looked back to Cassandra who was nodding her thanks to Zechs and then noticed the barely contained emotion in Wufei's face.

"Officer Chang, is there a problem?"

"I was wondering if Cassandra realized that we don't have months available to train every pilot here to deal with that system. In fact, I'm not entirely convinced that the system will even work. I've seen the suit in action, and quite frankly, I wasn't that impressed by it,"

Cassandra looked like she'd just been slapped across the face. Some of those in the room shifted uncomfortably as the tension escalated.

"As everyone here well knows, the suit was destroyed in its very first battle. I don't see that as very good odds in our favor, even with Zechs as the pilot. I don't see why we should be putting so much faith in her and her supposed intelligent system when we haven't seen any evidence that it is even possible,"

Cassandra stared at Wufei as all eyes fell upon her form. They wanted answers and they wanted them badly. Already, she could see the doubt on their faces about this system. None of them had faith in her anymore, if they ever had. Only Katarina, Zechs and Howard seemed unaffected by Wufei's argument.

"Why don't you tell everyone why the Tallgeese's system failed the first time? Why don't you explain to everyone why you allowed her original pilot to take her into battle, knowing the suit was not ready, resulting in the pilot's death?"

"Wufei," Howard said sharply, but he wasn't listening to anyone.

"Tell them, Cassandra! Tell them how you killed-"

"I didn't kill her!" Cassandra shouted, leaping to her feet. The room fell into a stunned silence. "I didn't…I tried to stop her from taking the suit! I told her that Tallgeese wasn't ready and I fought her! I physically fought her to stop her but she wouldn't listen to me!"

"So you downloaded the artificial intelligence into that memory card before Meiran even had a chance!"

"She wasn't interacting with the suit! She'd refused to listen-"

"Right, because a suit is more important than human life,"

"I didn't kill her!"

"You might as well have!" Wufei shouted back at her, absolutely outraged. "She didn't deserve what you did to her!"

Cassandra shuddered, her face going completely pale. Everyone in the room just stared, horrified at the event taking place. "I didn't…I…"

"It's because of you that she's dead. You encouraged her to become a pilot and it got her killed!"

Cassandra suddenly seemed to come to attention. "You weren't there, Wufei. You don't know what happened between us when she stole the suit. You didn't hear what she said to me,"

"What does any of it matter? You could have saved her but you chose that damned machine over the woman who was supposed to be your friend! She trusted you! _I_ trusted you!"

"She said, '_I will make him proud to have me as his wife'._"

"What did you say?" Wufei stared at her, stunned.

"That's the last thing my best friend ever said to me, Wufei. You were never there for her. She loved you but you were never there for her. She wanted you to have a wife you could be proud of. That's why she went through all of the training. That's why she became a pilot. She wanted you to be proud of her. So when Treize attacked the colony, she took the Tallgeese to defend it, knowing that it would make you see that you'd married someone worthy of you. Nothing I did could have stopped her. Nothing I did could have saved her. I didn't kill your wife, Wufei. You did,"

She was at the door before anyone knew it, but before she walked out, she turned to look back at Wufei, half muttering under her breath that, "Meiran wasn't Tallgeese's original pilot," then she turned and left the room, tears streaming steadily down her face. Wufei, stunned, just stood still, trying to comprehend what had just taken place in the room. A second after he looked up in Sally's face, Zechs was slipping out of the room after Cassandra, knowing she was hurting, knowing she now doubted herself.

"Well, I hope you're happy!" Katarina suddenly bellowed. "God, you are such an asshole!" Then Katarina was gone from the room as well, Noin and Sally not far behind.

"Dismissed," Une said quickly, quite shaken by what had just taken place.

...

"Hey! Cassie!" Zechs finally caught up to her in the hangar and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him.

"Let me go!"

"Cass, it's all right," He insisted, pulling her against his chest despite her fierce struggling. But she gave up at last and fell against him, sobbing so hard that it was amazing she could draw breath. "It's all right," He soothed, holding her against him, rocking her gently. She pulled back from him, regaining her breath and trying to calm down. She looked up at him, tears still streaming from her eyes, and leaned into him, momentarily surprised that he met her halfway. Their lips locked and they kissed softly. Zechs' hold on her tightened as the kiss deepened, but the momentary bliss, that feeling of _right_ was short lived. Cassandra tore away from him, shaking her head, looking apologetic.

"No, no. I can't…I'm sorry!"

"Cass-"

"I'm sorry!" And she turned tail and ran from him, intent on locking herself up in her room. Zechs closed his eyes and breathed deeply for moment, slightly disappointed. Until now he hadn't realized… He shook his head and leaned against the wall, rubbing his face irritably. How could he have been so stupid, throwing himself on her like that? She was upset and hurt, he had no right to take advantage of that. But he hadn't, had he? She'd kissed him just as hard as he'd kissed her.

Something in him roused and twisted in his chest, purring softly at the prospect of being with her; of being the only person in the world she would ever really need. He could make things right for her, he could make her happy and she could make him happy.

So why was she running away?

"Zechs?" Katarina was suddenly standing beside him. "Where's Cassandra?"

"She went to her room," Zechs murmured, looking still slightly wounded. "I kissed her,"

...

End Chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Immediately after Cassandra's departure from the room, Heero decided that it was up to him to discover the identity of the true first pilot of Tallgeese. He'd managed to slip out of the boardroom unnoticed. If there was anything more important to the perfect soldier than getting his Gundam finished, it was divulging secrets. Of course, it was not his place to divulge them, but a bit of investigating wouldn't hurt.

Making his way back to his quarters, Heero booted up his third most precious instrument, the first being his Gundam and the second being his handgun, and began his search. Someone had to have been funding Cassandra and her project, so the first place he decided he's look was any scientific or military group that was active, including the organizations of the L5 colony cluster.

Heero's fingers swept madly over the keyboard like a monster possessed. The next thing to do would be to hack into Howard's computer. It wasn't the most honest way, but since when were his methods ever honest? The old man's hard drive was a bit harder to get into at first. After several minutes of successful hacking, the brunette managed to get in. However, what he found there wasn't what he expected.

A firewall had been installed on Howard's hard drive. This would take more time than he had wanted it to. Cursing under his breath, Heero began the necessary procedures that would overthrow the firewall and allow him into the hard drive. As the first stage had begun, he double-checked about the financing of the Tallgeese Project. An underground colony organization had provided the funds for Cassandra's project. In all reality, the information that Heero had found about the financing sounded a lot like the work of the doctors. That would explain the technology and the money.

Several more minutes allowed Heero to break into the computer. Searching the c disk files, he came upon the old schematics of the Tallgeese and the Tallgeese III. That was when he came across the data journals of the project. Browsing through them quickly, Heero came across the man who was not only an experienced soldier and pilot, but he was also a scientist and a well-known musician. Pushing back his chair, Heero headed out of his quarters and down the hall. He'd discerned the information he wanted in twenty minutes. Now the only thing he had left to do was confront Cassandra about it.

"Mission commence."

...

Katarina blinked at Zechs' last statement. Surely she couldn't have heard him right. Then again there was that sexual tension that Noin and Sally had been talking about. "What did you just say?"

Zechs blinked in confusion, as if not hearing the question. "Cassie went to her room."

"No, no; the other thing." Kat mentioned quickly. "What you said after that."

"I kissed her. I kissed Cassie. I thought…I thought that it was wrong and was doubting myself, but then she kissed me back."

Kat smirked as she stared at Zechs. "So you're doubting your masculinity or what? Looking like you do, I'd be doubting it too."

A nice shade of pink tinged Zechs' cheeks as he bristled at the comment. "Oh what the hell is that supposed to mean!"

"Just that you look like a woman, that's all." The blonde said as she leaned against the wall opposite of him. "I mean, you're hair is as long as mine is if not longer."

The Lightning Count's grumbling made her grin before he replied. "At least I don't wear my hair in a braid, therefore, I'm not as bad as Maxwell."

A moment of tense silence hung between them before Katarina decided to retort. "Leave Duo out of this. We're not talking about him."

"Apparently we are." Zechs said with a smirk. "Maybe it's what you and Sally and Noin like to call 'sexual tension.' Don't think I haven't heard your conversations."

Red as a tomato, Katarina sputtered several attempts at a comeback, but failed miserably. Turning on her heel, the blonde stormed off down the hall leaving a very amused Tallgeese III pilot in her wake. She was too far away to hear him laughing at her. That didn't matter because she was heading toward the hangar to work on the Gundam skeletons.

...

Once everyone had left the conference room, Duo and Wufei were the only ones left. Both were silent, neither moving. It seemed as though the earlier tension had never truly dissipated from the small chamber. The two sat in continued silence before Duo decided to break it. He realized that this conversation that was about to take place could very well end his life.

"What is your problem, man? I don't know the details of what's going on between you and Cassie, but to call her out on it in front of a room full of people? That's low, Wufei."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Duo." Wufei responded coldly. "Cassandra Matthews is a murderer and a liar. You're stupid if you can't see that."

The brunette's form quivered in anger as he clenched his fists in fury. "That's right. You only think of women as weak. Maybe your lack of respect caused your wife to kill herself. Did you ever think of that, Chang?"

"What did you say, Maxwell?" the Chinese man replied, his voice barely above a growl. Duo was almost smirking at his reaction.

"You heard me and it's true. You can't give women the credit they deserve because you're a chauvinist! That belief has been dead for centuries, Wufei, it's time to let it go." Duo coursed angrily, his eyes lighting with pent up rage.

Wufei attempted to leave when the brunette jumped into his path, blocking the only exit. "Get out of my way, Maxwell. I have nothing more to say to you."

"Then maybe you have something to say to Cassie, like an apology." The God of Death barked.

"If I were going to say anything to her at all, then I'd tell her that the second weakest woman to her is Winner's sister. That's all." The pilot of Nataku finished with a smirk, knowing he'd hit a nerve.

"Leave Kat out of this." Duo growled. "This has nothing to do with her."

"It has everything to do with her since she's Cassandra's friend. I don't think she should be heading the Gundam project. In fact, I think it would've been better if she'd have stayed on L4 as a secretary while her brother was away."

There were several minutes of silence as the two of them stood glaring at each other. Electricity seemed to spring to life in the air between them. The twitching in Duo's fist finally gave way to his next action. In one swift movement, he'd brought his fist across Wufei's face. Wufei stared at him in wide-eyed surprise. That's when Duo turned on heel and started leave.

"If it wasn't for Kat, your Gundam wouldn't be as far along as it is now. Remember that."

...

The hangar was mostly empty at that point since everyone had decided to call it a night after the meeting and the explosive argument between Cassandra and Wufei. The sound of a lone wrench and several other tools echoed through the massive space. The figure that was responsible for all the noise was so intent on continuing her work that she failed to hear the footfalls that sounded, bringing someone to her. The approaching figure halted below the catwalk and grinned.

"Oi! What are you doing up there?"

A loud bang and the sound of cursing filled the hangar as a blonde leaned over the catwalk, glaring and rubbing her head. "Dammit, Duo! How many times have I told you not to do that!"

A sheepish grin came over him as he hooked his foot into the stirrup and rode the cable up to the catwalk. "I lost count at thirty. What are you working so hard on my skeleton for?"

"Because," Kat answered lamely, "Zechs made me mad. So I came down here to do a little tune up on the Deathscythe's skeleton."

"Wait, a tune up? Are you saying that I didn't do a good enough job?" Duo asked as if he were slightly offended. Then he blinked. "Zechs made you mad? How did he do that?"

"I'm not saying you did a bad job, it's just like you got a little distracted. I found my name scratched in one of the bearings." She giggled. "Yeah, about that Zechs thing…I was teasing him about him looking like a woman and then he brought you into the conversation…said something about sexual tension." She told him, her face turning as red as it had before.

"I see." Duo commented, studying her as he leaned over her shoulder, his lips right next to her ear. "Is there any truth to it?"

Katarina turned around in surprise. Just what was he trying to do, make her jump him? Then she realized how awfully close their faces were. Her breath had quickened in a nervous manner as they stared at each other. That was when Duo closed the distance and pulled her closer. Kat felt as though her mind was swimming in a storm of thoughts as she finally closed her eyes. Within a moment, Duo pulled away with a lopsided grin leaving her dazed. She had enough of her wits about her, though, to grab the wrench that had been lying next to her.

Duo gave a very unmanly squeal as he leapt to his feet and took off down the catwalk to the stairs, Kat hot on his heels. He took to the stairs two at a time and finally hit the concrete floor. Katarina was only a second or two behind him. As he passed her office, his pride and joy ended up being his downfall. Katarina grabbed his braid and pulled him into the office with her. Locking to door behind her, a sadistic look appeared on her face.

"Now, shall we try this again?" she asked him. Duo only grinned in the same manner as he moved toward her.

...

It hadn't taken him very long to navigate his way around the Preventer's headquarters. Heero had passed Zechs along the way and had managed to ignore the look of suspicion he had been given. He was currently making his way down a very long corridor that had all kinds of personal quarters up and down the sides. Heero stopped at the set of doors that was marked "C. Matthews." He knocked loudly and waited for his answer.

Very slowly, the doors slid open revealing a red-eyed Cassandra standing there staring back at him. "Heero? What do you want?"

"Tell me about Tetsuya Camui."

...

End Chapter


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"You are absolutely unbelievable!"

Wufei turned his head only the slightest bit to acknowledge Sally's unwelcome presence in his room before turning his attention back out through the window down into the hangar. His Altron Gundam stood below him, only halfway constructed.

"How could you single her out like that, Wufei? She's working her ass off to help us! She didn't deserve-"

"She deserves everything she gets!" Wufei snapped, turning to face her in a blaze of fury. She stared in surprise at the black shading around his left eye. A moment of pity overcame her but was quickly replaced by a feeling of pleasure.

"Some would say so do you, Wufei. You're rude to everyone, especially if they're female. But that's only started since Cassandra and Katarina were both brought on board. Kat you've got nothing against save for the fact that she's female, but this personal vendetta against Cassandra over your wife is ridiculous. She took the Tallgeese when Cassandra asked her not to. It was her choice to go into battle, Wufei. Cassandra can't be blamed for the result no more than you can. Maybe you were the reason Meiran did what she did, but you're not the reason she died and neither is Cassandra,"

"You weren't there. You don't know what happened,"

"You weren't either. You showed up after Meiran had already taken the Tallgeese. I know you were wounded by it, but you can't blame Cassandra. She lost her best friend, you lost your wife. You two should understand each other instead of hate each other,"

"That woman has too many secrets,"

"I never knew you had a wife," Sally muttered, shaking her head. "Is that not also a secret?"

"It's not a secret that can get anyone killed,"

"Oh, stop it!" Sally snarled, wanting to blacken his other eye and fighting desperately to keep from doing so. "Everyone has secrets, Wufei. But not all of those secrets are as bad as you make them out to be. If Cassie does have a secret she's keeping from everyone, I'm sure it won't cost anyone here their lives. We women are complicated creatures and we alone understand each other. No, the only thing Cassandra is keeping secret is the pain and the guilt she feels for not being able to save someone that she cared about it."

Wufei snorted and turned back to look down into the hangar, catching sight of Duo as Kat chased him along the catwalk and out of the hangar completely. He half scowled at the sight but was jolted into awareness as Sally slammed his door upon exiting. Apparently, the discussion was now closed.

...

The entire room was dark save for the lamp sitting on a large oak wood desk in the center. The man sitting behind it was not bothered by the lack of light, his entire focus was on the fifty page report he was flipping through. Standing in front of the desk were two of his most trusted men, each well built and heavily armed. It was strange to see soldiers like this in such an age of peace, but they were a part of a faction built around destroying peace, after all.

The man sitting behind the desk closed the report he was reading and set it aside. For a moment, his head was downcast, and his long dark brown bangs fell forward to hide the gleam in his green eyes.

"This has all been confirmed?"

"Yes, sir,"

"I see. I must say, I had hoped they would seek Cassandra out, but I never expected her to actually agree. What a lovely turn of events this is," The man finally sat back and smirked evilly at the two men before him. "The next few weeks should prove very enjoyable indeed. However, the only problem I have is that we have yet to successfully put a spy into their base of operations. I am very curious as to how they are coming along with the construction of the Gundams. I'd also like to know if Cassandra has managed to do what only one person has ever been able to do before,"

The two men before him flinched before the one on the right, Logan, decided to speak up, "The security doesn't seem very tight until you actually try to get in. All mechanics, engineers and so on are hand selected by a woman named Katarina Winner. We've found out that she's one of 29 test tube sisters of Quatre Winner. She seems to be the head of the entire project. Most of our men have been turned away. She wasn't impressed with their credentials,"

"I am not pleased to hear this," Anubis murmured, folding his hands on top of the desk. "How is it that we are unable to penetrate their walls, yet they seem to have been able to penetrate ours?"

"We have yet to find the spy, sir," The other man finally spoke up.

"I am aware, Cooper, this is why I am displeased. It is also why I continue to keep the plans of the Diabolos Gundam under complete and total wraps. The three of us and Dr. Sloan are the only ones in this universe with the ability to access anything to do with that Gundam. I plan to keep it that way. Please tell me I will not regret this decision,"

"No, sir!" Logan and Cooper said in unison, not daring to blink should Anubis take it as indication that either one of them doubted their duty.

"I should hope not. Now, go and make use of yourselves. I have a task I must attend," When the two bowed and quickly left the room, Anubis sealed it tightly and turned towards the back wall of the room where a bookshelf stood, lonely, in the middle of it. He approached it with a smile, pulling down the spine of a rather ordinary book. Immediately, the bookcase slid aside to reveal the smallest of passage ways. He slipped inside, waited for the bookcase to return to its place, then flipped on a light switch.

Merely a few feet ahead of him stood the doors to an elevator, and though the door to the passageway was likely never to be discovered by any Preventer spies, extra security had been put into place at this point. The elevator was the only way in and out of the underground fortress where he hid his most precious secret weapon.

The ride down was quick and painless, and Anubis was whistling cheerfully when he stepped out into another passage towards a titanium door at the end of it. It was the final door that he would have to step through to reach his weapon, and he cheered up even more when it opened and he was able to step inside. The doctor was already waiting for him.

"I trust the subject is still in good working order,"

"Perfect health. His reaction times are just as efficient as ever. The super computer has complete control, Master. All simulations have come back with very outstanding results. It is your greatest creation,"

"Excellent," Anubis breathed, smirking as he approached the replica of the Tallgeese cockpit, hooked up to a very powerful super computer that, when complete, would make up the brain of the Diabolos Gundam being constructed in the underground hangar several hundred yards away. Anubis looked down into the seat, staring at its occupant and couldn't help the pleased smile that broke through again.

"I hope you are enjoying yourself. I told you that you would suffer greatly if you did not help me and I can think of no better way to make that happen than force you to do this. But I have a bit of news for you. Preventer now has Cassandra on their payroll and they've got her working on the Tallgeese. Isn't that just sweet of her to help? But I wonder…if she knew what I was really doing, would she have been so eager to help them stop me?" Anubis reached out and touched his palm to the pale face of the man hooked to the machine. He received no indication from the man that he'd been heard and it only made Anubis smile broader. "The neural inhibitors are working well even after having been plugged into this thing for four years. Tell me, doctor, should he ever be discovered and unplugged from this computer, what are his chances of recovery?"

"At this point, master, there is no chance. The damage has already been done."

"Ah, such a lovely bit of news," Anubis was too damned cheerful about the entire situation, but it didn't seem to bother the doctor in the slightest. "The Diabolos is almost complete, doctor. I expect to integrate the system with the suit by the end of the week. Is the subject ready?"

"Yes, master,"

"Good. I wouldn't want to disappoint Preventer and the Earth's Sphere. They're just so busy preparing for this war that I couldn't bear to keep them waiting too much longer."

...

"Tell me about Tetsuya Camui,"

The look of utter surprise on Cassandra's face was so obvious that Heero was almost wounded by it. Did she not believe that he had the means and the resources to find out these kinds of things?

"He was a highly decorated soldier and pilot. A very talented and equally famous musician. He had a knack for science and engineering and it was he who made the Tallgeese system work," Heero said plainly. "You may have created the system, but you couldn't get it to work. He did,"

Cassandra swallowed, meeting Heero's steely gaze a little unsteadily. How could he know so much? How did he even find out? All of that information was-

"You hacked into Howard's personal hard drive,"

"I did," Hearing footsteps beyond the door from others heading to their rooms, Heero decided to continue the conversation in Japanese. "He did a good job of keeping Camui's name off of anything to do with the Tallgeese. If I hadn't looked more closely, I never would have come across the name at all. After all, what would a famous musician be doing associating himself with a weapon made to fight against OZ? He was an OZ soldier and mobile suit pilot, was he not?"

"He was," Cassandra whispered, still watching Heero closely, carefully keeping her responses to Japanese. At least he wanted answers for himself and didn't seem to have any interest in telling the rest of the world her little secret.

"I can see why he wouldn't want his name on anything to do with a project that would eventually tear OZ apart," Heero crossed his arms over his chest and studied her carefully. "But the details of your relationship to him fail me,"

Cassandra's lips parted in distress. "He's dead, Heero. Leave it alone,"

"What was your relationship to him?"

"Heero," She gave him a pleading look, the tears were back in her eyes and her hands were shaking. "Please,"

"Answer the question, Cassandra. It's important,"

"How is it important?" She asked, her voice cracking in her effort to contain the emotion.

"I knew Camui," Heero admitted, still just as stoic now as he had been when he'd walked into the room. "We were briefly acquainted as soldiers in training under the five doctors. He was an excellent pilot with reaction times that surpassed even my own. He was on his way to serious glory and power, but one day he started talking about a woman. A woman who made him want to do other things. He was already an established musician and had already completed almost thirteen years as such when I met him. Why he was even a soldier, I didn't know."

"He liked helping people," Cassandra whispered. "He became a pilot because he wanted to protect the people he loved. He wanted to protect his fans from those that hated the Alliance. That's why he joined OZ."

"He was unsettled," Heero continued on as if Cassandra hadn't spoken at all. "He completed his training, but he was never satisfied with it. The day he left the academy to further pursue his music, he kept mentioning a woman, a woman he planned to marry, a woman who made him whole and filled his heart with music. It was you, wasn't it?"

"He said that to you?" She whispered, barely suppressing a sob that would have choked the air from her lungs. "That's what he said to me…when he asked me to marry him," Cassandra shook her head, sobbing into her hands.

"The Tallgeese,"

"He nearly fell over himself when he saw the plans and the programming. He couldn't wait to help me. He was so proud of her. When she first started to interact it was…it was amazing. I'd never seen him so elated. But when OZ called him into service…" She shook her head again, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "He didn't want them to know. He didn't want her destroyed and he didn't want me or Howard to get into trouble over it. So he called in a few favors and the next thing I knew I was in the L5 colony cluster being introduced to the five doctors and the pilot of the Shenlong Gundam. They introduced Wufei's wife as the prospective pilot for the Tallgeese."

"Did the Tallgeese accept her?"

"Yes," Cassandra whispered. "but she never…she never spoke to anyone but me. When Meiran stole the suit to defend the colony against Treize in that attack, Tallgeese tried to help her but Meiran refused. Then Howard told me that Camui was with the party that was attacking and that he didn't want anything to happen to the A.I. She was the only one of her kind. She was unique and he knew she'd be needed once the Alliance was defeated and things began to change. So I downloaded her into this memory chip to preserve her. Wufei blamed me because of it. He doesn't think it will work because he's never seen it work,"

Heero merely nodded. He'd heard enough. "You use his hatred of you over Meiran to hide the true reason why you hate him,"

Cassandra swallowed hard, but she didn't look at him.

"Tetsuya Camui's mobile suit was targeted and destroyed in the Mariemeia wars six years ago. He was claimed a Prisoner of War because his body was never recovered. Two years later, the Military proclaimed him dead upon finding a body floating in space not far from where the battle took place. They sent his ring to you in honor of his memory. Wufei is credited with the destruction of Camui's mobile suit,"

Cassandra nodded and she choked on yet another sob, burying her face into her hands. The cold silver band of the ring wrapped around the thumb of her right hand stung her cheek but she didn't pull it away. It was a reminder of the work she had to do for her beloved Camui.

"I have to make her work, Heero. I have to. She's all I have left of him."

"Then make it happen,"

"Heero, you won't-"

"I have no intention of sharing what I've learned with anyone else. When the time comes, you will have to do that on your own," Heero left her then, closing the door softly behind him. The second she was alone again, Cassandra slipped onto the floor and cried in earnest.

...

Seeing Zechs lingering outside of his own door, Heero purposefully left Cassandra's door cracked open and headed placidly back down the hallway. He dismissed Zechs' suspicious look as if it hadn't existed and disappeared down the stairs. It seemed to Zechs that Heero planned on spending another night in the hangar working on the Wing Zero.

Quietly, Zechs moved for Cassandra's door and sighed quietly at the state she was in. Uninvited, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, then carefully approached her. He knelt in front of her and tucked his hands under the topmost parts of her arms and lifted her head from the floor. The completely shattered state of her face made his chest tighten. What had Heero said to her to put her in such a state?

"Cassie, what's wrong?"

"I…" She choked, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "Hold me, please,"

Stunned, he complied, pressing her against his chest to hold her while she cried over whatever it was that was ailing her. He was sure it had something to do with what had happened in the conference room, but somehow it felt a little deeper now than before.

"What did Heero say to you?"

"It's not him," She whispered, her body shuddering. "I just…"

"I understand," Zechs murmured as he sat on the floor, his back against the footboard of her bed. He pulled her to him, cradling her in his lap and giving her every bit of comfort that he could offer her. It was an hour before she calmed down again, an hour in which Zechs wondered what could have possibly hurt her so much to completely tear her down. She was a strong woman, feisty and defensive. He'd never seen her cry before, and he definitely hadn't known any woman to ever fall apart like she had just done.

He'd begun to stroke through her hair when he noticed her twirling the ring around her thumb. He'd seen her wearing it before and he'd seen her twirling the thing around her finger when she was lost in thought. Was it a comfort to her now as well?

"Are you all right now?" He asked quietly when she rested her hand against his chest and stopped twirling the ring. She sniffled a little and nodded, quietly thanking him, but she didn't budge, didn't let him go. "Do you want me to stay, Cassie?"

She hesitated for a moment and then closed her eyes, her hold on him tightening a little. "Please,"

Zechs reached up with his right hand, took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and brought her face upwards, pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was softer than before, more delicately, but she responded just the same. She needed him tonight and he felt it in that one kiss, in the way her arms came around him. He felt it even as he made love to her, when she snuggled and slept against him afterwards, and when she woke and smiled at him in the morning.

She needed him…

But he wasn't sure why.

...

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Quatre was suddenly behind his sister, his eyes, though, were drifting back and forth between Wufei and Cassandra, both keeping well away from each other. "If I were a gambling man, I'd have placed my money on Zechs for that black eye Wufei is wearing, but since I'm not and I've noticed Duo icing down his right hand, I can only make the obvious conclusion,"

"Duo may be a bit of a pervert, but he likes Cassandra and myself and he doesn't get off on insulting women like Wufei does. As a matter of fact, Duo tends to get annoyed by the lack of praise we women get in this place from the other men. Though, after Wufei's new facial, I think we'll be respected a little more. Still, what about Cassandra? He singled her out in that room, Quatre. Now the pressure is on to get the Tallgeese system up and running. What if she can't?"

"She will," Quatre reassured. "It might take some time. Not everything is successful in the first try. That system is very intricate and very complicated. And when dealing with such an intelligence it has to be handled with care and delicacy. Artificial intelligence is hard to come by. It's almost unheard of on the level Cassandra claims it to be. Sure there are robots out there, but they don't really interact as much as respond because of their programming."

"Yeah, I know. I can understand that, but these military types that are putting the pressure on Lady Une won't,"

"Well, hopefully it'll work out. I know Lady Une, even if Cassandra doesn't get it to work on the first shot, she won't report that it's failed until she absolutely has to. After that, well, I guess we'll see what happens,"

"Any other news on Orion?"

"None other than what we were expecting. The two Gundams they are building are nearly complete. There's nothing on the systems yet, but I'm sure that will come in a few weeks," Quatre sighed quietly. "There's something I wanted to ask you, Kat,"

"Ok, but make it quick, bro, we've got a lot of work to do today,"

"I know. Is Cassandra's good mood because of Wufei's black eye, or because Zechs spent the night with her last night?"

...

End Chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

(ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMER: The lyrics presented in this chapter belong to Gackt Camui. It is the English translation of his song, Metamorphoze. Although the character of Tetsuya Camui is inspired by Gackt Camui, it is NOT Gackt. We just used this song because it was too damned perfect.)

Kat did a double take to her brother. She'd never heard him be so forthright about that sort of thing. He damn well had to be freaking psychic if he was telling her that Zechs had spent the night with Cassandra. Her mouth moved open and closed for several seconds, making her look a lot like a fish, before she could answer.

"Q, I-What did you say? I don't think I heard you right."

"You heard me. I was wondering whether Cassandra was in a good mood because of Wufei's black eye or because Zechs spent the night with her last night." The blonde told her casually. "Why do you act like you're so surprised, Kat?"

The second blonde shook her head. "It's just that you surprised me, bro. I didn't expect you to say it. It's like, you're psychic or something."

A wide grin spread across Quatre's face as he stopped and looked back at his sister. "How do you know that I'm not, Katarina?"

Katarina blinked. She blinked again. She blinked a third time. "Uh…"

Luckily, Duo bounded up to them, in the nick of time as usual, and grabbed Katarina's arm. Quatre gave his sister an almost knowing look as all three of them stood there. Kat fought a blush as she turned her gaze to the brunette that had just joined them. Duo was grinning at her with a smile so wide it seemed like it would break his face. He was practically bouncing with anticipation.

"Finally! What took you so long? I'm ready to get started! Heero and Wufei have already started on the work for their computer chips!"

"And you need me for that why?" Kat asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I didn't really. I just wanted you to hurry up so we could get started. I have some slight changes that I want to make to Deathscythe's skeleton. Hopefully it'll make it more aerodynamic." Duo explained, showing her a blueprint that he'd written over on a sheet of trace paper. Kat only nodded in response. She noticed Quatre wave a hand at her and walk off toward the skeleton of Sandrock and meet Trowa half-way across the floor.

As the two made their way over to the Deathscythe's skeleton, Kat dug around in the pocket of her overalls to retrieve a disc that she'd brought with her. Duo raised an eyebrow, but instead of asking her what was on the disc, he was cut off by Kat when she asked him a question instead.

"Duo, you were the last person to see Wufei, am I right?" she asked.

"Yes?" he replied in an unsure manner.

"How did he get the black eye?" Kat questioned, grabbing his hand and pulling him to a stop.

Duo stared back with quite a serious look on his face. The blonde in front of him felt her expression soften a bit as she took a step closer to him. "He said something about me, didn't he?"

"Hey, you know very well that you're my weakness, Kat. Wufei talks shit about you and he gets a black eye." The brunette said roughly, looking away.

Kat rubbed her thumb over his knuckles and watched him wince. Looking down, there were still open sores on his knuckles. "You just pointed something out to me, oh God of Death. You'd better hope that Orion never finds out about me, Duo. I don't want them to hurt you because of me."

The braided pilot whipped his head around to stare at her with wide surprised eyes. "Kat, what made you think of that? That's a serious question that you just asked."

The blonde nodded. "I know. I can't help but wonder though, Duo." She asked as she entwined her fingers with his and pulled him along after her. As they reached the Deathscythe, she released Duo and grabbed the stirrup only to be pulled back to the one whom she'd just released. Duo stuck his foot into the stirrup instead and grabbed the chord, wrapping his other arm tightly around her waist.

"I just want you to know that that's not going to happen. I won't let them get to you, Kat. You know what your problem is?"

"What's that?" Katarina asked in a suspicious voice.

"You worry too much."

"What?! You can't be serious! I've worked on your Gundams for years and I've seen the shape that they sometimes come back in. You can't possibly tell me not to worry!" Kat exclaimed, causing several heads to rise in curiosity.

Duo winced as he released her once they were both safely on the catwalk. "Okay, okay, so I can't tell you not to worry because I give you good cause. Just, PLEASE, don't bring this up to Lady Une. She'll take your ideas to heart and she might remove you from the operation. Please. Don't make her take you away."

Kat tossed him a wrench as she picked up a pair of goggles and a welding torch so that she could begin the modifications to the skeleton. "Alright, I promise. Now, let's get to work so we won't let Q beat us today, okay?"

The brunette grinned as he set to work right away, watching as Kat popped the disc into her laptop which held the new modifications to the skeleton. Little did they know that at the end of track four, the reaction would be quite unexpected for one individual on the other side of the hangar.

...

"So Kat decided to break early for lunch?" Quatre asked as he walked with Duo to his left and Trowa to his right.

"It would seem so." Duo replied. "I asked her if she was coming, but she asked me to bring her back a sandwich instead because she had some stuff to work on."

Trowa smirked as he continued on in silence, for the most part. "Perhaps she found something she had to take care of that didn't involve you, Duo."

A look of horror came over the brunette's face. There was no way that Kat could've told him something so she could go behind his back. Why would Trowa say something like that? It was clearly to throw him off. Shaking his head, Duo turned to see Quatre staring at him and chuckling lightly to himself.

"What's so funny, Q man? I don't get it."

Quatre laughed a little louder as they continued on their way to the cafeteria. "Don't worry about my sister, Duo. She's not that kind…most of the time. Anyway, what is your relationship to her now? I noticed that the two of you didn't get back to your quarters until quite late."

Duo's eyes widened as he almost tripped over his own feet. "What do you mean? Are you freakin' psychic, Q?"

"That was exactly what Kat asked me this morning when I asked her about something different. No, I saw you getting back and a little disheveled at that."

"I _swear_ we didn't do _that_!" Duo practically shouted. "Kat's virginity is still intact!"

Trowa was snickering from Quatre's other side. The blonde was desperately trying to hold in his laughter as the trio continued down the hall. Duo was sputtering and stumbling over his words horribly until Quatre finally spoke up to stop him.

"Duo, I believe you. You don't have to keep trying to prove yourself. Anyway, why don't we just say that you and Kat have taken your relationship to the next level, shall we? That way, you don't have to tell us any incriminating details." The blonde offered.

The braided pilot nodded in agreement. Maybe that's why Quatre was so easy to get along with. He never tried to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Then again, Duo had to wonder about one thing and one thing only; Trowa seldom went anywhere with anyone, but when he did, it was with Quatre. Was it because Quatre managed to make everyone comfortable or was it because of something on a little more intimate level? A blush crept to Duo's cheeks as he desperately fought to shake that idea from his head. Quatre wasn't gay, was he? Dorothy would certainly kill him if he was, right?

...

Cassie saw Katarina's eyes brighten as Duo, Quatre, and Trowa reentered the hangar. As Duo rode the cable up to the catwalk, Kat rushed to meet him as he presented her with a sandwich that he'd smuggled from the cafeteria. Zechs watched the entire display with ironic interest. Luckily, little to nothing had been heard out of Wufei all day.

"I appreciate the sandwich, Duo." Kat said, smiling up at him. "Now, I'll eat this while you get back to adjusting those bolts, 'kay?"

"Yes ma'am!" Duo grinned as he saluted and moved to complete said task.

Kat, in the mean time, sat down on the catwalk and swung her feet gently over the edge as she ate her sandwich and pressed the resume button on her laptop. She issued a happy squeal that earned her several confused looks. She paused in mid-chew to explain herself.

"What? Camui is my favorite artist and this song is one of my favorites!" she exclaimed as she cranked up the volume, not noticing the painfully familiar look that entered Cassandra's eyes. Having said that much, Kat returned to munching on her sandwich and started to sing with the song.

_A trembling heartbeat binds me_

_Pieces of you fell into deep darkness_

_In a world that cannot forgive the act of running away_

_Even though you only wanted to protect yourself_

The blonde hopped up as she finished her sandwich and brushed her hands together to clean them off. She gave a bright smile to Cassie as she picked up her welding torch once again and placed her goggles back on her face.

"Well, break's over! I'd better get back to work! I want Deathscythe to be finished at the same time the others are!" Kat chirped cheerfully as she made her way over to Duo and the skeleton.

_Still now, still even now, more than someone's tender words_

_Your lips, your lips alone, I want to touch them softly_

"How sweet, Kat!" Noin called up from the ground. "Are you singing to Duo? If you are, that's so cute! I think Trowa lost the battle!" she snickered.

Duo stopped what he was doing to look at her while she was welding. "Trowa? Is there something I should know about?"

"Not in the least, my dear Duo. You have nothing to fear but fear itself…or something like that." Kat answered him without looking away from her current task.

"Noin!" Deathscythe's pilot whined. "What are you two talking about? I'm left out of the loop now!"

The dark-haired woman laughed as she prepared to give an answer to that question. "You're not the only one who had a crush on Miss Katarina there. Mr. Barton seemed to be quite fond of her himself in earlier days."

"Trowa?! No way!" Duo exclaimed as he shot a glance to the seemingly unhearing Kat.

"If you have enough time to chat, Duo, you've already gotten all the work done today that needed to be done. Therefore, you can start on the work for your Gundam's computer control chip."

Duo pouted as Noin snickered at him. He'd never understand women fully.

_Even though this endless sky will someday come to an end,_

_I will never forget you whose image is burned into my eyes_

_My memory of you, more than any kind words,_

_Erases the pain in me that no one else could_

_Now, I continued calling out your name._

"Kat, do you want to go for dinner tonight?" Duo asked casually while tightening several replaced bolts with the wrench he'd been given.

The girl remained silent, as if contemplating her answer to his question. "That all depends on how much work you actually get done between now and the end of the day." She said playfully.

The brunette pouted as pitifully as he could. "Aw, come on, Kat! This'll be the first date we've ever been on! I feel like I need to take you out after making out with you last night."

"Oh, so you feel bad about snogging me senseless and want to make up for it by wooing me a bit so you can get some more out of me, is that it?" she asked in an angry tone.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Duo protested, sending glares to some of the other mechanics who were laughing at his predicament. "Stop being difficult, Katarina, and let me take you out!"

Kat tossed her long ponytail in an irritated manner, but she smiled as she continued to work. "Fine, fine. As long as you don't push me into giving it up to you, then we're cool. The minute you enter forbidden territory, it's all off."

The God of Death blushed at the heading of the conversation but nodded. "Roger. I may run. I may hide, but I never lie. You know that by now, Kat."

"I know that, Duo. I trust you. Just don't break that trust."

"Me? Never!"

"Why am I not convinced?"

_Even though we repeat our mistakes countless times_

_I want to protect the promise you exchanged with me_

_Still now, still even now more than someone's tender words_

_I want to embrace you in these arms once again_

_Still now, I want to continue fighting for you_

_Until the day I can smile together with you one more time._

...

End Chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The lyrics to the song drifted over and around her, striking cords in her mind that only his voice could strike. For a moment, warmth flooded her as the memories of the days when she'd sat up with Tetsuya while he'd written the song came to her mind's eye. She could still remember the sound of his voice as he tested the notes and the words. She could still remember the sound of the piano as he put music to the words. And she could still remember exactly the way his lips pulled up into a proud smile as he looked up at her and told her the song was complete.

It was too much all at once.

"Cassie?" She would give anything for the voice calling her to be Camui's. Anything in the world. "You all right?"

But it wasn't Camui. It was Zechs and he sounded worried. Had she zoned out because of the song?

"What?"

"Are you all right?" Zechs repeated as he came to stand next to her. "You look upset,"

"It's nothing," Finally, the song ended and something completely different began playing, letting her body relax and let go of the memories. "I just needed a moment,"

"You're sure?"

"I'm ok, Zechs," She turned to face him and spotted Howard leaning against the doorway to his office, a sympathetic smile on his face. He must have heard the song and had come out to make sure everything was ok because of it. No one knew about Camui aside from Howard and now Heero. Wufei knew very little about her connection to Camui, but he did know _something_ about that relationship. She was just glad the moron hadn't made any kind of connections yet.

Howard merely smiled when Zechs noticed him. "Looks like we've got a week left before the Wing Zero, Heavyarms and Deathscythe Gundams will be completed. Two more after that and the rest will be ready to go. I just got a call from Une. She wants to confirm that tomorrow is the big day,"

Cassandra turned and stared up at the Tallgeese, her fingers curling around the memory card hanging from her neck. "Tomorrow,"

"Is she ready?" Zechs questioned, looking up as well. The head had been returned to place, safely shielding the complex positronic brain behind steel, Gundanium and heat shields.

"She's ready. I'm going to run a few diagnostics tomorrow morning before hand, just to make sure, but she's ready." Cassandra smiled faintly. "In a day, Zechs, you'll be talking to her like she was a real person."

"That's still a scary thought," Duo muttered as he walked by, an ice pack settled over his knuckles again.

"Hey, Maxwell!" Cassandra called, smirking. "Thank you…for Wufei's new facial,"

"Feh! Idiot deserved it…" Duo waved his arm and continued on his way, though he was grinning proudly for his accomplishment.

"Ready to call it a day?" Cassandra turned to Zechs and smiled sincerely at him. "I could use some food and a good movie,"

"Sounds fine with me," Zechs stretched a little and switched off the computers before he locked elbows with her and led her off.

"Ah," Katarina sighed from where she stood with Noin and Sally, watching the two leave the hangar. "What a nobleman,"

"He has the utmost respect for women," Noin murmured dreamily. "Well, sometimes,"

"Still, it's romantic," Katarina smiled. "Unlike a short Asian sporting a womanizing temper and a black eye,"

Sally chuckled a little angrily. "Don't worry. He's been cut off. I don't flatter men who think they own the women around them. He's lucky he didn't have _two_ black eyes. Still, I don't get it. Wufei's wife has been dead for years, why is he still holding a grudge? It's like he wants her to be mad at him. Like he wants her to do something to him because of it,"

"Maybe he did something, too," Katarina offered. "She's not like him. I've learned a lot about her personality in the last couple of months, girls. She's a wounded woman, but I don't think it has anything to do with Wufei's wife. No, I think Wufei did something to hurt her, too, and is trying to get her to battle it out with him so they can be on even ground. The only problem is, she's not taking the bait. She'd rather keep it bottled up,"

Noin and Sally just stared at Katarina, their lips parted in surprise.

"Wow," Sally finally muttered, looking toward the Tallgeese to admire it for a moment while Noin worked over everything Katarina just said in her head. "I bet Zechs knows,"

"Oh, I'm sure there are a lot of things Zechs knows after last night," Kat muttered, smirking. Immediately, Noin and Sally's eyes were back on her. "What? I'm serious. Word has it, Zechs spent the night with her last night."

Giggling, Sally and Noin linked arms with Kat and led her out of the hanger.

"I could use a stiff drink,"

"A really stiff one," Katarina agreed, smiling. "Shall we invite her for drinks again?"

"Most definitely," Noin grinned. "But it would be best to invite her in a few days. Something tells me that the longer we hold out, the more details there will be to get out of her,"

"Do we want the details?" Kat asked quietly, looking a little bemused.

"Oh, yes," Sally grinned at her. "We want the details."

...

_The sun was setting over the horizon when she ventured out onto the balcony and sat down beside him. The sky was alight with deep reds, yellows and oranges. Streaks of pinks and purples burst through the clouds as the sun dipped low beyond them, seemingly sinking into the ocean._

_ "It's beautiful," Cassandra breathed as she watched the event taking place. It took a moment for her to notice that the light blue eyes of the man sitting next to her were no longer interested in the sunset, but clearly focused on her. On the way her hair fell across her shoulders, how a few strands of the brown locks fell into her eyes. How her beautiful, full lips curved up into a small smile of awe and admiration for the beauty before her._

_ "Yes, it is," His deep, cultured voice finally drew her to look at him and her brown eyes lit up warmly. _

_ "I was talking about the sunset,"_

_ "I wasn't," Tetsuya Camui smiled as he reached up and touched her face, then pulled her to him for a long, tender kiss. When he broke it, he pulled her close to him, tucking her softly against his chest while his right hand stroked through her hair._

_ "You left pretty quickly after you got that phone call," Cassandra eventually murmured, tilting her head back so she could look up into his face. "Was it OZ?"_

_ He nodded, sighing quietly as his hand stilled. "They've called me back into active duty. They want me to help train an elite group they're calling 'The Specials'. Cassie, I don't know how long I'm going to be gone this time,"_

_ "I understand," She whispered as she sat up and stretched. "You did wonderfully with Tallgeese today. She really likes you,"_

_ "Isn't she supposed to?" His deep throated chuckle made her grin at him. "Still, she's got a lot of growing up to do. She may be intelligent, but she's still just the mind of a child right now,"_

_ "She's a quick learner, though. You should be proud of her,"_

_ "I am," Camui insisted, running a hand through his short, thick brown hair. "Cassie, I want you to get out of here when I leave."_

_ "Why?"_

_ "Because no one has ever done what we've done. I doubt our work would be very appreciated. I want my name taken off of everything to do with her, and you, for the time being. I can't let you get into trouble for this. Anything that connects either of the two of you to me needs to be destroyed,"_

_ "Camui?"_

_ "I'm going to use her, Cassie, to get rid of OZ. They shouldn't be in power anymore. I'm not fond of the Alliance, either, but while I take care of them under the guise of OZ, I'll need you to train Tallgeese so that, when the time comes, she'll be ready. I can't let OZ get anywhere near her. I can't let them know that there's a weapon out there that's going to be used against them. They can't know that I had anything to do with it, or they'll come after you, too."_

_ "Camui," Sighing quietly, Cassandra pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Where will we be going?"_

_ "To the L5 Colony cluster. Howard will meet you at the A0206 colony."_

_ "Any particular reason?"_

_ "A Gundam is being built there. I believe they are calling it the Shenlong Gundam. I put in a few calls, and the scientist working on it is very eager to have you on board. You're going to be staying with the Chang family. I believe the Gundam Pilot's name is Wufei. Cassie…" He reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Do everything you have to in order to stay there, to stay on that project. You are the Tallgeese's owner, they have no rights to her, but if anyone outside of the Barton Foundation hears that there is another Gundam out there, they will come after her."_

_ "I'll protect her, Camui,"_

_ "It's not the Tallgeese I'm really worried about. When I get back, Cassie, I want to know that you'll be waiting for me,"_

_ Startled, Cassandra lifted her head and stared at him. "Camui, of course I will."_

_ "I don't know how long it's going to take, Cassie, but…" He shook his head and reached into his coat pocket, pulling a small black velvet box from inside. "I wanted to wait a little while longer, but after getting that call…I…You make me whole, Cassie. And you fill my heart with so much music,"_

_ Her lips parted in surprise as he opened the box and revealed a simple but stunning silver band, inlaid with three small diamonds. "I know it's not anything extravagant but, well, my father gave this ring to my mother a long time ago and she gave it to me before she died. I know she wanted me to keep it in the family. Cassie, you're already part of my family, part of me, but I want…I want so much more for us. My life is a busy one and always complicated because of the touring and my active duty status, but, I thought that…maybe…"_

_ "Camui, just ask me,"_

_ He took a deep breath and smiled warmly. "Cassie, will you be my wife?"_

Cassandra opened her eyes to dimly lit darkness and took a deep, calming breath. Of all the dreams she could have had this night, did it have to be that one?

Carefully, she sat up in the bed and slipped out of Zechs' arms without disturbing him, then quietly padded over to her dresser drawers. Buried in a tangle of clothes in the top drawer, Cassie found the small black velvet box and pulled it out, staring at it for a moment before she took the ring from the inside, set the box aside, then walked towards the window. She sat in the overstuffed chair beside it and admired the ring in the moonlight. For a while she just stared at it, letting the memories involved with it flood her until the tears started stinging her eyes.

After a while she looked up…

And was staring right into Zechs' face.

"Who was he?" Zechs asked as he climbed out of the bed and walked over to her, claiming the empty chair beside her.

"He was…no one," Cassandra whispered quietly. "No one,"

"He had to have been someone important to you. May I?" Zechs reached out a little and she nodded, letting the ring fall into his palm. "It's a simple design, and its simplicity makes it all the more beautiful. It suits you, so you should wear it,"

"I can't," She whispered, shaking her head and looking away. He'd seen her cry enough lately, he shouldn't have to suffer seeing it again.

"Did he leave you?"

Cassandra smiled, but it was bitter. "Not in the way you're thinking. He died a long time ago. That," She pointed to the ring still in Zechs' palm, "was his promise that he'd always come back to me, no matter how many battles he had to fight to make sure. But he died in this last war, and he broke that promise. I haven't worn that ring since then,"

"Sometimes we go into things that are beyond our control,"

"You didn't know him. Don't defend him," Cassandra left her chair and moved back towards the dresser. "You don't know what it's like, Zechs, to have something so precious taken away from you. He never said goodbye,"

"Don't I?" Zechs asked quietly. "Have you ever heard of Milliardo Peacecraft?"

"The name sounds familiar," Cassandra said casually, before turning around to face him. "He was the leader of White Fang, wasn't he? The one that tried to destroy the planet in AC 195, right?"

"He was also a son of the royal family of the Sanq Kingdom." Zechs murmured, a bitter smile forming on his face.

"You knew him?"

"Of course," The bitter smile turned into a frown of remorse. "I am he,"

Startled, Cassandra just stared at him. "But-"

"I'm surprised you didn't realize it. You've known I was Relena's older brother, haven't you?"

"Well, yes, but I didn't think…" She paused, shaking her head, and sat back down in the chair beside him. "Then I guess you do know what it feels like…"

"Far better than you think, Cassie. I broke my promise to my father and my mother, but I did it in order to protect Relena and insure her continued survival. For a while I thought I could reclaim my name but I already had blood on my hands, and I only further soiled it when I followed Quinze into being the leader of White Fang. I allowed myself to be manipulated and I allowed my name to be shamed. I dishonored my family, Cassie, but that does not stop me from acknowledging them." He shook his head, taking the ring between his fingers and sliding it onto her hand. "That's why it shouldn't stop you from wearing his ring,"

She didn't stop him, but she didn't look at the ring either.

"Just because he's dead, doesn't mean you have to forget," Zechs assured, reaching out and touching her face. "This ring is to you what Relena is to me. A connection to family and to love. We may not have that anymore, but there are still things we have that will remind us and allow us to remember. You will never forget him or what he was to you, and wearing the ring will keep you connected."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a shuddering breath as Zechs' hands closed over hers.

"I miss him, Zechs. I miss him so much,"

"I understand," He reached out to her, coaxing her to come to him and she obeyed, curling up into his lap and snuggling against his still bare chest. There was warmth there, and a hint of a promise, but she didn't want anything like that from him. He was a soldier and as such he would go into battle very soon. He couldn't guarantee that he'd come back to her, but he would promise it anyway. But she didn't want that. Not from him.

"I grieved over a lover once, Zechs. I won't do it again," She whispered, closing her eyes. "Don't ever make that promise to me,"

...

Howard stared at the ring Cassandra was wearing as her fingers flew over the keyboard in front of her and swallowed the lump in his throat. Was she finally starting to get over it?

He glanced over at Zechs and smiled faintly. Did Zechs really understand the significance of that ring, since, he was sure, Zechs was the one who had encouraged her to wear it again?

"Ok," Cassandra whispered, biting on her lower lip self-consciously. "I think that's it. The diagnostic will take most of the morning, so, until it's finished, there's really nothing else we can do but wait."

"Well, in that case," Kat grinned over at her from where she and Duo were standing on the catwalk near them. "What do you two say for some lunch? Honestly, Cassie, I'm dying for a ride in that pony parked in the garage,"

Cassandra laughed heartily, the first real sign of mirth that Howard had seen from her in a long time. "There's just something about that car that attracts people. I'm not sure if it's just because of the speed it gets, or because it's a really hot car,"

"It's a bit of both," Duo muttered, grinning. "Shall we?"

"Sure, why not? Zechs, would you join us?"

"Are you taking a bottle of aspirin?" He questioned as he grabbed their uniform jackets and followed the small group up the catwalk towards the exit.

"If you need it, then yes," Giggling Cassandra and Kat linked arms and headed for the outside world, shivering at the immediate chill of the air as it hit them.

"It's friggan cold out here!" Kat whined, turning with Cassandra as both of the men came forward and handed the girls their jackets.

"We've been cooped up in there for so long, I'd forgotten it was already winter. Damn, Christmas should be right around the corner!"

"Right around the corner," Zechs agreed as he slipped his jacket over his shoulders. "And Relena is hosting a ball at the Sanq Kingdom the week of New Years again. She's invited us all and I've had my ears blistered enough to realize that she won't be taking no for an answer,"

"A New Years ball?" Kat and Cassandra questioned as they walked down to the parking garage and stepped into the elevator that would take them to the topmost floor of the garage.

"Yes," Zechs confirmed as he bundled Cassandra in his arms to help rid her body of the biting cold. "She does this every year in honor of those who died to attain peace. This will be the seventh annual ball,"

"Sounds like fun," Kat said dismally. "We'll have to get all dressed up and fancy, Cassie,"

"Oh, boy," Cass muttered bitterly. "I hate all those formal shindigs. I hate dresses, too, for that matter,"

The group laughed a little as they finally reached the topmost floor and headed towards the far end of the parking strip where Cassandra's freshly washed Mustang awaited them. Kat and Duo both walked around it in admiration, and a hint of excitement, for a moment before Zechs and Cassandra caught up and they all piled inside.

"So, where to?" Cassandra asked as she glanced around at the group.

"Well, we're not dressed for anything fancy, and I'm not in the mood for anything like that," Kat ventured. "I'd be happy with a burger, what about you?"

"A burger actually sounds really good right now," Zechs muttered as he downed two aspirin in preparation for what was to come. The Dir en Grey decal stretched over the top of her windshield was a painful reminder of the first time he'd ridden in this car with her, and he had vowed that next time he would be prepared to handle it. They all chuckled at him, but refrained from teasing him, for which he was grateful.

He'd just hate to have to put Duo into the ground before his time.

So the group sped off to the restaurant district and ended up at a drive in fast food restaurant, which suited them perfectly. It would be quick, but it would be relaxed, and that's what they had aimed for. And there was enough warmth in the car to keep the cold out. They were silent while they ate at first, but they eventually broke into conversation, mainly started by Duo who was little too curious about the ring on Cassandra's finger. He seemed less interested when both Cassie and Zechs had told him Zechs hadn't been the one to give it to her.

"Oh my God! Turn it up!" Kat leaned forward and cranked the volume on the radio. "I love this song! Geeze, I don't get it though. They've been playing Camui's music so much this week that it's almost like he isn't gone. What's with that?"

Cassandra was silent as the song filtered through the speakers to them.

"That reminds me," Zechs said quietly. "Kat, I believe I have a better incentive for you to adorn a gown and come to that ball,"

"Really?" Her interest piqued, Kat leaned over the seat and waited. "It had better be a good one,"

"Relena also makes a particular point in recognizing Camui at the ball because he, too, died in the war." Zechs closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the headrest, oblivious to the pained look in Cassandra's eyes. "He was an excellent pilot. Very decorated,"

"You knew him?!" Kat asked, her eyes wide.

"No, but I did have the honor of meeting him, briefly, while he was a soldier under OZ. A genius, he was," Zechs muttered. "I still don't know how he managed to do both, though. Eventually he left the military to follow his music career. It didn't stop him from fighting in the Mariemeia war, though,"

"Baka…" Cassandra whispered, forcing the tears back. Of course, now she was more inclined to attend this ball as well. _I haven't seen Sho and the others in so long…They'd hate me if I didn't go…_

"I didn't think about that. Considering how famous he was as a musician, I kind of figured he wouldn't have gotten involved with the war," Kat scrunched up her face a little. "But I guess once a soldier, always a soldier,"

Cassandra turned her head away to stare out through the window, all the while singing along to the song quietly. Absently, she twisted the silver band on her finger while she tried to control her emotions.

"So what kind of recognition does Relena give him?"

"I only went to the first one, but his band was there, and they played a little bit of his music and showed a video from the last tour he ever did," Zechs shrugged. "I assume it will be the same this year. The only difference is going to be the heightened security because of what's now going on. Relena's been under heavy guard since Orion made themselves known. I can only imagine how much heavier it will be at the ceremony."

"Yeah, that figures. I really can't believe we're about to go through this again," Kat snorted, taking a long sip from her cream slush. "I mean, really, enough is enough."

"As long as mankind exists, there will always be battles. The only thing that changes is how the battles are fought," Duo mused, his eyes closed. "Hopefully, after today, Orion won't be so ready to jump the gun. That Gundam of yours, Zechs, is a masterpiece. I can't wait to see her in action after Cassie gets the A.I. installed."

"That's assuming Anubis even gives a shit. If he's hell bent on destroying everything that might threaten his faction, I doubt a talking Gundam is going to stop him. After all, he knows the Gundams are being rebuilt, and it isn't stopping him. Not to mention the legion of mobile suits he acquired from out of nowhere. I'd sure love to know how he managed to pull those out of his ass." Kat growled. "It almost makes me glad those mobile suits that Mariemeia had under her command weren't destroyed,"

"Almost," Cassandra whispered as she looked back at the group. "I'm so tired of war. I'm tired of the fighting and I'm tired of all the bloodshed. How many more women are going to have to mourn the loss of a husband or lover because of this?"

The rest of the group was quiet as they looked at her, slowly beginning to realize that while Zechs hadn't been the one to give her the ring she was wearing, the person who had was no longer living. He'd died in that last war.

Duo glanced at Kat and frowned. Would Kat have to go through the same thing because of him this time around?

The silence stretched until, finally, it was broken by the ringing of Zechs' cell phone. He answered hastily and once the call was over he looked over at Cassie and smiled.

"It's time,"

...

_Damn it, why did everyone have to stop what they were doing to watch this?_ Cassandra glared at the group gathering on the catwalk ahead of her and wanted to throw a wrench at them. The pressure was already building, why did they have to add to it?

And to make matters worse, Lady Une had come down to witness the whole ordeal as well.

"Ready?" Howard asked as he stood in front of her, smiling warmly and encouragingly. Everything was ready, all that remained was to upload the intelligence into the brain and let everything else take its course. Zechs came up beside her as she glanced, for the millionth time, at the results from the diagnostic. Aside from a few glitches that, ultimately, wouldn't affect the transfer of the A.I. or its integration, everything was clear.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Cassandra's hands shook as she pulled the necklace over her head and unclasped the memory card from its charm. Her hands were _still_ shaking when she opened the port in the hard drive to insert the memory chip. They shook as she keyed in the commands, as she uploaded the contents of that chip into the computer and transferred it to the positronic brain via the cable connection.

Her entire body was shaking when she hit the enter key and looked up at the Tallgeese. Zechs reached out and touched her shoulder, waiting tensely with her.

They waited…and waited…

…but nothing happened.

...

End of Chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Silence filled the entire hangar as several minutes passed. Nothing happened with the Tallgeese System. A few disappointed mechanics wandered away from the crowd. The rest stayed behind with the small hope that the reaction was only being delayed. It was only Wufei that crossed his arms and snorted in an arrogant manner.

"So this is the brilliant Tallgeese System that all of us have been waiting to see? As far as I can see, Cassandra, nothing has happened. I knew you were either all talk or you were lying. It seems that I was right."

"I don't know why…she's not wanting to…speak." Cassandra whispered feebly. Zechs was ready to take over for her.

"I don't know what your problem is so suddenly, Chang, but you had better back the hell off before I turn it into an order. You know what happens when you disobey orders."

A sour look crossed the Chinese man's face as his body became rigid and he dropped his arms. "Threaten me all you like. I speak the truth. We rested all of our hopes on this woman's breakthrough technology only to be disappointed. How are we going to fight Anubis now that we have only the Gundams? I'm going to find a way, make no mistake about that."

As he turned to leave, a loud cry of pain escaped him as he grabbed his head. Looking down, he'd turned around just in time to see a wrench fall to the ground. An angry Katarina stood fuming behind him, her eyes burning with either rage or angry tears; he couldn't tell.

"You don't have any right to jump on Cassie's system!" she shouted, Duo moving to try and stop her. She ignored him and pushed his hand to the side. "Who are you to judge something so new that it hasn't even been tested properly?!"

"You'd do best to watch your tongue, onna. You're not a part of this battle, so keep out of it." Wufei snarled, turning his eyes to Duo. "Keep your bitch under control, Maxwell. I'm tired of having to deal with her disrespectful mouth."

Katarina's expression turned livid as she clenched her jaw. "If you don't shut the hell up, Wufei, you'll have more than just my mouth to mess with!" she shouted, her face flushed.

"Do what you like." Wufei said nonchalantly. "You're no concern of mine."

Duo caught Kat as she tried to launch herself forward to make an attack on the other Gundam pilot. The blonde struggled against his arms as she was slowly dragged back into Howard's office. The brunette locked the door and listened to her scream in rage as she paced the room. Sighing as he went to lean on the desk, Duo rubbed his hand across his face in a tired manner. Wufei was turning out to be more of a problem on this mission than the actual reconstruction of the Gundams was. It turned out that Deathscythe Hell was almost finished as well as Sandrock and Heavyarms Custom. The Altron and the Wing Zero were not far behind. Many of the Preventer mechanics were wondering where the parts and wiring for their own mechs were disappearing to. That could only be explained by Heero.

Katarina had finally stopped pacing and was fighting to regain control of her breath. She was so beautiful when she was angry. "I just don't understand why he has to be such a jerk!"

"You clearly don't know Wufei." Duo commented in an expert manner. "I'm not one to boast, but he's pretty pig-headed when he chooses his personal battles. It won't be easy for you to get along with him now, Kat. You've publicly made him your enemy."

"Good!" the blonde shouted. "I'm the leader of this damn project and by God he will take orders from me, or I'll strip his Gundam down while he's sleeping! It'll be a skeleton when I'm through with it. I've never done a whole job in one night, but I'm sure I could."

Duo chuckled. "I figured you'd have something else to say about that. Don't worry about Wufei. I'm sure that Sally's going to put him in his place shortly. Wufei's not one to cross her so quickly."

Katarina came to rest against the brunette who was still leaning against the desk. "I really wanted to make him spit out teeth though, Duo. I could've done it too. I have another wrench in my pocket."

...

Making his way down the corridor while rubbing the rather nasty bump on the back of his head and cursing in Chinese, Wufei felt that despite the confrontation with Katarina, he'd effectively humiliated Cassandra. He knew, of course, that the repercussions of his actions would be dire, but it was well worth it. None of them knew what a monster that woman was. They were focused on how she could be able to help them defeat the enemy at hand. Not that he blamed them.

Anubis and the Orion Project had to be defeated. There was no mistake about that. The universe was in danger. He could understand where the Preventers would want to take any measure possible to eliminate any and all threats to the Earth Sphere and the colonies, but bring that _woman_ into the project was not one of the feasible measures in his opinion. Wufei sighed as he finally paused at the door outside of his quarters. He'd get back to work on the Altron later.

"Wufei."

As he turned to look at the owner of the voice that was calling him, the Chinese man was hit in the face hard by a small hand before being dragged through the door. Only after the door had been closed and locked did he get a good look at his assailant. Sally was fuming as she stood bristled before him. His onyx eyes stared her down with the ferocity of a jungle cat.

"How dare you hit me, onna! You've committed a great injustice!"

If it was possible, Sally's expression grew darker before she replied. "Don't you _dare_ take that tone of voice with me, Wufei Chang. I've dealt with this childishness for long enough. I don't know what's going on between you and Cassandra, but I suggest that you drop it and drop it now or else we're going to have a problem."

The pilot of the Altron Gundam looked at her in disbelief. "I can't believe what you're saying, Sally! I'm not the one to blame in all of this! She failed in her objective and now it's up to us to find out an alternative. The Orion Project has to be stopped."

"_How_ are you not to blame, Wufei?" the Preventer shouted. "You talked to the leader of the Gundam reconstruction plan, your commanding officer, like a dog off the streets! You talked down to her in front of her crew! Zechs even tried to bring you down a peg or two, but you just don't give a damn, do you? You're too proud for your own good!"

"My pride has nothing to do with this—"

"Your pride has _everything_ to do with this, Wufei! Don't you understand that maybe you and Cassandra need to accept that you both made mistakes in the past so you can move past whatever this feud may be and try to work together? Of course you don't! You're too _proud_ to think of it that way! I don't understand you sometimes, Wufei. I really don't."

Without another word, Sally was gone and he was alone. Wufei suddenly got the sense that he'd hurt her in some way deep down that he couldn't see or explain or even begin to comprehend. Why did everyone see him as the villain? He was just trying to do his duty to the best of his ability, was he not? This was a very important mission that had been given to him and the others that had to be carried out with the greatest of care and speed or else they would fail. Couldn't they see that Cassandra was in the way of that?

...

Quatre watched as the crowd dissipated and his sister was led away by Duo before she killed Wufei. Shooting one last glance at Cassandra and Zechs, he began making his way back over to his partially complete Gundam. As he began moving away, he stopped, getting the distinct impression that someone was standing behind him, watching him. The blonde turned to find Trowa in the midst of following him. A small smile graced his lips.

"I was just going to get some more work done on Sandrock. Would you care to join me, Trowa?" Quatre asked, politely as ever.

Receiving a curt nod as his answer, the only son of the Winner line moved forward with the silent brunette to both of their Gundams. Quatre rode the line up to the catwalk and began on the work to some of the cockpit wiring. The blue glow of the lights flickered out as he put several of the new wires into the panel. After several minutes with no luck, he huffed and crossed his arms in a childish manner.

"You've shorted the fuse." Trowa said from outside the cockpit. "I can help you fix it if you want."

Quatre gave a relieved grin. "I'd appreciate that very much. Thank you."

Without a word, Trowa crawled into the confined space next to him and began his work on the control panel. A light blush crept onto Quatre's cheeks as the brunette's body kept brushing against his. In no time at all, Trowa turned to look at him, unfazed by their close proximity.

"You're problem is fixed, Quatre."

"T-thank you, Trowa. I appreciate it very much."

...

End Chapter


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Zechs glared into the air for a moment while Cassandra just stood there, still and silent and absolutely disappointed, both in herself and the way Wufei had stomped all over it. No one had expected any less of him, but still, it had to have hurt her.

"Cassie?"

She seemed to snap out of her mood and leaned back over the computer to reset and reenter the command codes. When nothing happened for a second and third time, she stepped back from the computer and closed her eyes.

"Cassie," He reached out and touched her shoulder but she jerked away, not even sparing him a glance as she fled the hangar.

"No!" Howard grabbed his arm and shook his head. "Don't, Zechs. I'll go talk to her. Run another diagnostic and see if you can't find anything off in the programming. Maybe a crossed wire,"

Howard left the hangar briskly while Zechs turned his attention back to the computer in front of him and got busy running another diagnostic.

"Do you think she was lying?"

Zechs looked up at Noin briefly and shook his head. "What reason would she have to lie about something like this?"

"Because Orion wants the upper hand,"

Zechs' fingers froze over the keys and he looked up at Noin with narrowed, glazed blue eyes. "You think she's a double agent working for Orion?"

"I don't know what to think. But Wufei is right. We based our whole strategy against Orion on this program. It doesn't work. Now what do we do?"

"Howard believes her,"

Noin frowned. "You trust Howard completely?"

"Yes, I do," Zechs returned his attention onto the keyboard and sighed quietly. "Noin, there's more to Cassandra than we all know about, more than she has shared with any of us, but it's not that. She's not our enemy,"

"I hope you're right, Zechs. For all our sakes, I hope you're right,"

...

Howard leaned in the doorway and watched her quietly. He couldn't believe how easily she'd taken defeat. She used to be so stubborn, so confident. If it didn't work the first time, she'd keep going until she made it work. What had happened to her?

"You're giving up,"

"I can't do it, Howard. I can't do it. Not without him," Cassandra whispered, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"That's not the Cassandra I remember," Howard walked out into the cold night air and stopped beside her, staring up at the clear blue sky. "The Cassandra I remember wouldn't let an asshole like Wufei talk her down from anything. Stubborn to the core, she was. She even talked down to Treize Kushrinada himself on occasion. If she got an idea in her head, she didn't let it go until she saw it through. Now that Tallgeese Gundam, that was her greatest achievement,"

"But it wasn't mine, Howard! It was Camui's…He made her work. Not me," Cassandra sighed and looked away, closing her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Without him…Cassandra Matthews is just another kid off the streets without a future. Without Camui, I have nothing,"

"That's not true," Howard snapped, whipping around and grabbing her arms tightly. "You have everything you could need. You have Camui. He's in your heart. He's all around you. We're all counting on you, Cassie. Without you and the Tallgeese, this war cannot be won. Maybe you did have help from Camui the first time, but he didn't design the system, he didn't come up with the idea for it. You did. You can make her work,"

Cassandra glared at him, jerking herself out of his hold and stepping away from him. "I can't, Howard. I can keep trying and it might never work. You really think Une is going to let me stay here now? I told them I could make her work and I failed. She's not going to let me keep trying over and over again."

"You let me deal with Une. You just get back downstairs and help Zechs. He's running another diagnostic,"

"He won't find anything," Cassandra sighed, lowering her arms to her side. "Howard-"

"God damnit, go try again!" Howard shouted, startling Cassie so much that she jumped backwards a step. "If not for anyone else, then do it for Camui! Now, young lady!"

Cassandra opened her mouth to protest then shut it again with a snap before stomping away, annoyed and slightly outraged at Howard's tartness.

"Howard?"

He sighed as he turned to face one of the mechanics now approaching him.

"What?"

"Lady Une would like to speak to you,"

"Of course she would," Howard muttered, motioning for the mechanic to lead the way. He couldn't wait to have this little conversation.

...

"You wanted to see me?" Howard said flatly as he stepped into Une's office and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I suppose it's about the Tallgeese,"

"Yes, it is," Une turned away from her window and sighed heavily, deeply, then shook her head. "Howard, we based our whole entire strategy on a design that doesn't work,"

"It does work!" Howard said sharply, regretting his tone. "Look, I have seen the Tallgeese in her full glory. Cassie wouldn't lie about that. It means too much to her,"

"Howard, she's had months to get the program running. She failed,"

"Give her another chance, Une! She's having a hard time coping with a lot of things right now and Wufei damn sure isn't helping her any. She can make it happen, I know she can,"

"Howard, did she do it the first time?"

"She designed the system-"

"But did she make it work the first time?"

Howard sighed quietly, shaking his head. "No, she didn't. Camui did,"

"Camui?" Une started briefly. "Tetsuya Camui?"

Howard merely nodded and looked away. "He helped her create the Tallgeese. That Gundam means everything to her. Une, it's all she's got left of him and until a few months ago, she didn't even know the Tallgeese still existed. After everything she's gone through, I can't let anyone take that little bit of warmth away from her,"

"That explains the violence between her and Wufei. He's the one that destroyed Camui's mobile suit. I hadn't realized…"

"No one has. She doesn't want anyone to know, Une. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't go spilling that to everyone around her."

"I can understand that. Howard, there's still a problem with the mobile suit not working,"

"Then you and I should discuss what we can do to help make it work,"

...

"Cassie, you should take a break,"

She glared up at Zechs and sighed, lowering her head into her hands. "Howard yelled at me. It pissed me off, but he was right. I didn't used to give up this easily. She works, Zechs, I promise you. I just did something wrong, that's all. I just need a little time to find out what,"

"I believe you, Cassie, I do. But you need to rest. You've been at this for hours. It's almost dawn and you haven't slept," He reached out and touched her shoulders, gently squeezing and pulling her back in the chair a little. "You need to get some sleep. You can start fresh after that. Trust me, it won't make you a failure to stop for what's left of the night."

"Maybe not to you," Cassandra whispered as she watched the results from her latest diagnostic flash on the screen in front of her, giving her the same results as the last 50 she'd run had done. "Ugh! I don't know what's wrong with this stupid thing!" She slammed her fists into the metal table and then dropped her head on her arms, wanting to cry for all the frustration she had in her. Zechs sighed quietly and rested a hand on her back, looking up at Tallgeese in disdain. For a moment, he just stood there before he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side.

"Cassie…"

"What…?" She moaned, unmoving.

"Did you activate any of the cockpit systems just now?"

"No, why?"

"Because the eye lights are on."

"Hm?" Cassandra lifted her head and looked at him in confusion before lifting her eyes towards the head of Tallgeese. Zechs was right, the eye lights were on, indicating that some of the systems had activated. "The external sensors…"

"Is that supposed to happen?"

"Not unless it's been activated, but I haven't…" She stared at the computer in front of her and bit her bottom lip. "Zechs, since I'm plugged into the Tallgeese's computer from here, is it possible to communicate directly with the programming?"

"I don't see why not. What's in your head?"

"I think I might be able to fix this," Cassandra's fingers moved rapidly as she pulled up a new window and began accessing and sorting through the programming.

"What are you looking for?" Zechs leaned over her watching the screen intensely.

"The specific programming for the A.I. There's a chance that if those external sensors are on that she's fully operational,"

"Then why isn't she talking?"

"Something in the programming might be jacked up. If I can get through to her, I might be able to figure it out and fix it. Here, see? This is the programming for the A.I. Like before, it's perfectly fine. There's no anomalies or random abnormalities, meaning it's not the programming that's incorrect. Something else is keeping the A.I. from activating completely,"

"Maybe a failsafe to the programming already installed?"

"Maybe, but I'm thinking more along the lines of a misconnection. We might have to move a few things around in regards to wiring. If I could just figure out-whoa…"

"What did you do?" Zechs questioned as he stared at the now blank screen. Cassandra raised her hands.

"I didn't do anything," She muttered, lifting her eyes up to Tallgeese. "The system shut down. The external sensors went off,"

"Automatic restart? Maybe a failsafe against changing the programming?" Zechs watched Cassie get out of the chair and walk around the desk to stand in front of the Tallgeese. He sat himself down and looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong with the computer when it suddenly popped back on. Cassie stared as the eye lights came back on, a sure sign that the external sensors had reactivated.

"Tallgeese? Can you hear me?" She lifted an arm above her head and waved it slowly, her eyes narrowed as she studied the Gundam. "Anything?" She glanced at Zechs and paused, lowering her arm. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," He murmured, his eyes locked on the screen. "Cassie, come look at this,"

Cassie hesitated a moment as she caught sight of Howard and Une walking along the catwalk toward them, then moved to stand next to Zechs, confused by what she was seeing on the screen. "What is that?"

"Looks like there's an anomaly in a completely different program that's blocking the A.I. program from taking control,"

"How did you find it?"

"I didn't…Tallgeese found it," Zechs whispered as the truth of that statement sunk in. "She works, Cassie. We just can't hear her,"

"Try to get around that programming," Cassandra looked up as Une and Howard stopped behind them, clearly about to break bad news. She ignored them, now determined to prove herself. Tallgeese's A.I. system did work, there was just a kink in another program that was holding her back.

"I think I got it, Cass," Zechs whispered, watching the screen go black again. He glanced up at her for a moment before she walked back around the desk once again to stand in front of the Tallgeese. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she lifted her hand and waved it over her head. The external sensors immediately clicked back on, the eye lights shining dimly as her movement was registered.

"Zechs-" Une began but he held his hand out to silence her as he got up and walked up to Cassie and stared up at his Gundam.

"Do you think it's working?" Zechs questioned, but Cassandra just continued to stare up at the Gundam.

"Something has to be working. I mean, look! The external sensors are operational when they weren't earlier,"

"Cassandra, we need to talk-"

"Shh!" Cassandra hissed, throwing her hand up to get Une to shut her mouth for a moment. "Hear it?"

"What is that?" Zechs questioned, staring up towards the cockpit in confusion. "Cassie-"

"Be quiet!" She hissed, smacking his arm as the strange humming noise got a bit louder than before. "That sounds almost like…"

"She's trying to move!" Cassie and Zechs both raced to the railing and peered down into the depths of the hangar where Tallgeese stood and watched the fingers flexing.

"Stop moving," Cassandra snapped, surprised by the quickness with which the Gundam obeyed. "Ok, she's taking verbal commands,"

Zechs took a step back and stared back at the cockpit. "Open the cockpit door!"

Immediately, the familiar hissing sound as the door opened outward could be heard. "Something's working."

"So why can't she speak?" Cassandra moved back to the computer as it snapped back on and keyed in a few commands, pulling up several different windows at the same time. Une stared at the scene in surprise, hoping that the conversation she had just shared with Howard would not have to even be mentioned. If Cassandra could get the A.I. to work, Une wouldn't have to kick her out.

"We need a reset button," Zechs muttered, out of ideas. "Or a speaker phone,"

"Oh wow," Cassandra bit her lip and looked up at Zechs, embarrassed. She hid her face behind her hand to keep him from seeing the red tinge to her cheeks.

Zechs glanced at her, smiling. "Really, Cassie?"

"Wow," Cassandra laughed, lowering her head. "Maybe it would work if I turned on the speaker system," She lowered her head, laughing and crying at the same time as Zechs came over and keyed in a few commands into the computer and then dragged her back in front of the Gundam.

"Reboot!" Cassandra commanded and watched as the lights inside of the cockpit, as well as the eye lights, shut off and remained that way for a few long seconds. When they finally came back on, Cassandra's heart started racing again.

"Now what?" Une questioned while she stared up at the Gundam. "How do we know if it's working?"

Zechs took the initiative abruptly, determined to prove everyone wrong. "Tallgeese, are you fully operational?"

"All systems are now balanced. I am indeed operational,"

"YES!" Zechs and Cassie shouted, hugging each other and jumping slightly. Howard clapped while Une just stared in surprise.

"You have full mobility?" Cassandra questioned as she ran back to the computer to view the readouts.

Tallgeese lifted her hands and flexed the fingers. "Affirmative. I have full mobility. Unfortunately, in these confined spaces, I have nowhere to move,"

"Welcome to Preventer," Zechs muttered as he stared up at her in awe.

"Thank you," Tallgeese's head turned so that she could fully see Cassandra. "I have refined the programming that was blocking my control of the suit, however, I have left all fail-safe's intact as I do not have permission to access them,"

"That's good," Cassandra said, looking up at Zechs and smiling brilliantly. "Tallgeese, do you know the man standing in front of you?"

"Zechs Merquise, my pilot for the last seven years. I am pleased to finally be able to talk to him,"

"That's incredible," Une said with a smile.

"What about normal operations? Is everything ok?" Cassandra looked up from the computer and frowned. "Do you remember anything?"

"All systems are working fine now. And yes, I remember lots of things. Mother, how many years has it been since I was last operational?"

Cassandra sighed quietly. "Ten years,"

"Ten years?" Tallgeese sounded almost distraught. "Then I have missed more than I thought. I have been dormant in the system for so long, that I have not kept track of the time. However, I do have all battle status reports from the main computer system up here," She lifted an arm and tapped her head. "I also have the video documentary of the last war. I am sorry, Mother,"

Cassandra stiffened as she looked up at the Tallgeese. "You've nothing to be sorry about. People die in battles like that every day," Cassie stepped back from the computer and turned towards Une. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"No, there's no longer a need for that," Une smiled. "Good job Miss Matthews. I expect a full report by the end of tomorrow night. You may take the day off,"

"No, thanks. I still have some work to do,"

...

The atmosphere the next morning as Wufei made his way down into the hangar was a little too optimistic and cheerful than what he had expected. Had Preventer finally taken his advice and gotten rid of Cassandra?

Wufei paused at the end of the catwalk and looked out towards the platform where the Tallgeese was docked, and scowled at the sight of Cassandra having a little chat with another mechanic. He frowned as he moved forward, new voices beginning to reach his ears. Zechs was apparently arguing with someone from inside of the Tallgeese's cockpit, however, it didn't look as if anyone outside of the Gundam was even paying attention to him.

Wufei stopped at the end of the platform and crossed his arms over his chest as Zechs stepped out of the cockpit and glared upwards.

"I made the adjustments! Are you happy now?"

"Yes, thank you," Tallgeese's hand rose and allowed Zechs to climb on, effectively dropping him back down onto the platform.

"She's as stubborn as you are," He muttered as he moved passed Cassandra to check the latest diagnostic.

"But she was right, wasn't she?" Cassandra smirked at the look Zechs threw at her, then turned to see Wufei hovering nearby.

"Don't worry, Tal, Zechs loves you already!"

"I didn't get that impression,"

"Ooh, was that sarcasm?" Cassandra chuckled and threw a smirk at Wufei as he came to stand next to her, staring up at the Tallgeese in absolute surprise. Tallgeese didn't move or speak, and neither did anyone else for a time.

Finally, after a few minutes, Cassandra lowered her arms and sighed quietly. "Tal, you remember Meiran's husband, don't you?"

A loud hissing noise filled the air as Tallgeese bent her knees so that she could be level with the Chinese pilot.

"Wufei Chang, pilot of the Altron Gundam. Yes, I remember him. May I squish him?"

Zechs choked on the water he had been drinking while several people laughed.

Cassandra chuckled and shook her head. "He may be a nasty little bug, but he's one someone apparently finds useful. Don't squish him…yet,"

Tallgeese rose to stand upright again and made a rude noise. "I don't like those kinds of bugs,"

"Behave," Cassandra warned as she walked towards Zechs and stretched. "I'm going to bed. Keep an eye on her, will you, Howard?"

"No problem, sweetie. You go rest. You, too, Zechs. I'm tired of looking at you,"

"That's nice, Howard," Zechs chuckled as he turned and followed Cassandra out of the hangar, both exhausted beyond belief.

"Do you feel better now, Cassie?" Zechs asked as they reached the elevator and headed down to their sleeping quarters. "You made her work,"

"Definitely a weight has been lifted," Cassandra yawned, leaning against him. "I just loved the look on Wufei's face,"

"So did I, sweetheart. So did I,"

...

End Chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

For what felt like the millionth time, Katarina sat behind her desk rubbing her forehead as she looked through the resumes that had been sent to her for mechanics. Lady Une had told her that it was imperative that she have more help and an assistant, at least, to keep the work load down. None of the past applicants had reached her standards and, by God, she was not going to lower them to appease Lady Une. She'd been looking through those damn applications for days now and it was slowly starting to piss her off. The blonde merely wanted to burn them in the trashcan that sat beside her desk. A sigh of relief escaped her as she came to the last piece of paper. Her eyes scanned the page as a grin spread over her face. Perhaps Allah was watching over her. The last application impressed her greatly and she was finally happy that _someone_ had been able to set the bar. The squeaking of the door opening caused her to look up, the grin not leaving her face. Duo popped his head through the opening in a curious manner.

"Hey, Kat. Whatcha' doing? You look awful happy."

"Lady Une says we need more help or I need an assistant. I've been going through applications for days now and haven't found anyone suited for the job. Finally, the last applicant isn't some jackass that has no idea what it takes to do the jobs I need done." the blonde explained.

The brunette scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Really? Who is it?"

"A man by the name of Aya Fujiyama. He's twenty years old and comes from Japan like Heero. Praise Allah, look at these credentials!" Katarina exclaimed, shoving the paper into Duo's face.

Duo quirked an eyebrow as he looked from the piece of paper to the slight figure that was now bouncing up and down in front of him. "I take it you've found your assistant, then?"

"Of course!" Kat gushed, plucking the resume from his fingers and wrapping her arm around his neck, kissing his cheek gingerly. "Now we'll finally be able to get some private time." she said with a wink.

Crimson stained Duo's face as he fought a cough. "You're serious? No way. I've corrupted you. Dear God, Quatre is going to kill me."

...

Katarina straitened the jacket of her Preventers uniform as she made her way toward the conference room. She had to interview the man that was going to be her assistant. Duo had given her such a time before she left simply because she'd have a male assistant. Duo was way too overprotective and possessive for his own good. Opening the door with a folder in hand, the blonde now understood why. She had to blink to keep her jaw from dropping.

The man that was sitting at the head of the table, Aya Fujiyama, turned his attention to her. His blue eyes stood out against his candy-apple hair, giving him a dark and mysterious quality. That combined with his sharp and alert features made him quite a sight to behold. He was truly breathtaking. Katarina slowly sat down in the chair across from him, trying to collect her scattered brain. Folding her hands in front of her calmly, Katarina fixed her eyes on him with a level gaze.

"You know why you've been called here today, don't you Mr. Fujiyama?"

"Because my resume showed some potential to you." he answered simply.

Katarina nodded. "Yours was the first application that I've seen in a while that wasn't a complete disgrace. I must say that I was quite impressed."

Aya nodded politely. "Thank you. It was my hope to get accepted by the Preventers for the war effort. This war has become somewhat personal to me."

"I understand. I won't ask details because I believe that would be like pouring salt in the wounds, am I right? Anyway, you're definitely hired. I expect you to report to me in the morning at eight when the first shift starts. My office is on the second floor of Mobile Suit hangar. We'll go over procedures and everything in the morning. Do you have any questions?" Katarina continued on in a profession matter. Thank Allah her brother ran a large company, so she'd heard him do it so many times.

"Just one." Aya said clearly. "May I see the hangar? I want to know where I'll be working most of the time."

"Certainly, Mr. Fujiyama. I'd say you'd be curious about the place you're going to be working. You're too smart to say you'd get lost." The blonde said with a small smile.

"Please, call me Aya. Mr. Fujiyama sounds like my father." The redhead said, his voice still holding some degree of seriousness to it.

Katarina blinked. "Okay. That was weird. It almost sounded like Heero attempting to make a joke."

"It was a joke." Aya told her, letting her exit the room before him. "I'm just not very good at them."

The blonde mechanic laughed as she led her new employee for a tour of the hangar. "Don't worry, Aya. Being around here, you'll learn the meaning of goofy quick. We mess with each other while we work most of the time. We've become like a big family here. I'm sure you'll be like that too once you get used to us."

"I'm sure I will." He replied quietly. "I'm sure I will."

...

The sounds of heavy equipment rang through the hangar as the construction of the Gundams continued. Being about eleven, the mechanics stayed fairly busy. Lunch wasn't for another hour and a half. Sally and Noin worked contentedly beside Quatre on one of the leg plates that was being installed. Duo wasn't far away working on Deathscythe and Wufei was sulking on the catwalk. The attention of the two women was then drawn by something else, causing the others to look as well.

"Wow, who's that nice piece Kat's with?" Noin asked, whistling.

"I don't know, but I wonder if she'll share." Sally commented. "Better yet, does he have any brothers that look exactly like him?"

"I've never seen him before." Quatre said, looking to Duo. "Who is that? You know Kat's doings better than I do."

The brunette crossed his arms and grumbled before answering. "I assume that's Kat's new assistant."

"New assistant, huh?" Noin snorted. "That lucky brat. I wonder who the hell he is because he's gorgeous."

Wufei decided to use his bad mood to pick on Maxwell. He'd be vulnerable after seeing Katarina with another male. "Aya Fujiyama, isn't it? She's going to be spending a lot of time with that guy."

Duo was seething silently, trying to fight off Wufei's goading. "Of course she will, he's her assistant. That's all."

"I might not be so sure, Maxwell. He might turn out to be more of a man than you."

"So help me, Wufei, I'm asking for divine help not to slug you right now." Duo growled through gritted teeth.

Sally looked over to the braided pilot. "Oh it's fine, Duo. Knock the shit out of him if you want to. I think it's the only way he'll listen anymore."

"I'm trying not to lower myself to his level, Sally." Was the reply. "Anyway, I think I'm going to head up and meet this guy. Maybe he'll end up not being too bad."

Duo left a fuming Wufei behind as he hurried to catch up with Katarina and her new assistant. He hurried along the catwalk hoping to approach them unnoticed, but it was the redhead that turned around and took notice of him. The brunette met his eyes with an icy expression. Both he and Duo stopped on the catwalk, the former turning around to face him. It was a few seconds later that Katarina noticed that Aya had stopped and turned to see what had drawn his attention. Her face lit up when she spotted Duo and began walking back toward him at a quick pace.

"Hey, babe. Who's this with you?" he asked in a stiff tone.

"Duo, this is—"

"Aya Fujiyama. I'm Katarina's new assistant." He introduced himself, extending his hand cautiously. "And you are?"

The brunette looked down at his hand for a few seconds before grasping in his own for a shake. He did so love a challenge. "Duo Maxwell. I'm one of the Gundam pilots so you'll be seeing a lot of me. You'll probably meet the others later."

Katarina smiled broadly, trying to ease the tension that was so obvious between the two. "Good! You two have met! I hope the two of you will get along. I don't need anything that'll slow down production."

Aya glanced back at Katarina before turning his gaze back to Duo. "You won't have to worry about me. I was hired to work, so that's exactly what I'm going to do; anything I can do to assist you."

"Why you—"

"Down boy. Okay, how about I finish showing you around the hangar and we call it a day? I don't want to put too much on you before you even start." The blonde interrupted.

"That sounds fine to me." The redhead replied. "I can start the actual work tomorrow."

"Exactly." Katarina said, pulling him in the other direction. "I'll see you at lunch, alright Duo?"

"Right."

As Katarina practically pulled Aya toward the far end of the hangar, Quatre met Duo from behind. The brunette turned to face him with a scowl. The blonde male gave a nervous chuckle under his stare. "Wow, that's a lot of hostility, Duo. Who's that with Kat?"

"Her new assistant." He grumbled in response. "Male and good looking at that."

Quatre whistled as he scratched the back of his head in an anxious manner. "Do you think he'll be trouble? Is that why you're wanting to blast him into the next galaxy?"

Duo blinked in surprise. "Are you psychic or something?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm just very—"

"I don't think he'll be trouble at all. It's the fact that he's going to be spending a lot of time with Kat. He could be competition."

"Are you honestly worried about that?" Quatre asked. "You should know my baby sister better than that. She isn't that shallow, Duo."

"I know." Duo sighed. "I don't exactly trust that guy. He could be the one to make her change her mind about me."

The blonde shook his head. "I wouldn't worry about that. You're fine."

Duo looked a Quatre and shook his head. "I hope you're right, Q-man. I'd hate to have another broken heart by the same girl."

...

Through the florescent lit corridors, he moved at a steady pace toward his destination. His plan was slowly unfolding to the inevitable climax. The man pushed the panel on the door, causing it to slide open quickly. The lighting of this room was darker than the corridors, causing the human-sized tubes to cast an eerie glow across the floor and the other mechanical workings of the room.

The man, known as Anubis, strolled to a stop in front of a single tube to look at its occupant. A single human male connected to a respirator and at least half a dozen wires floated there before him. A smirk set itself on his face. "I'd like to inform you that we're going to war with our former partner. This time, she is our enemy. We will obliterate the Tallgeese III and the other Gundams swiftly and totally."

At this point, another person entered the room. The figure remained in the shadows as he looked to his leader. "I've brought you news, sir."

"You were able to penetrate the Preventers stronghold then?"

"Affirmative. From what I observed, Deathscythe Hell, Sandrock, and Heavyarms were three-fourths of the way complete. They only need a few more things to be finished. Altron and Wing Zero were a little further behind."

Anubis spared a glance to the hidden soldier. "I see. Then there's only one thing that we can do. The only way to bring production to a halt is to disable the head of the project. I'll have to devise a plan and present it to my tacticians. Very good. Continue to observe and report back any new findings. Dismissed." The soldier saluted and exited the room. Anubis turned his attention back to the man in the stasis pod. "Do you hear that, Camui? It's only a matter of time. The universe and the woman you love so dearly will soon be put to an end. Will you even realize that it has happened?"

...

"So what was all that about today on the catwalk, Duo?" Katarina asked, shoving a sandwich square into her mouth. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous or something."

Duo nearly choked and spit his soda everywhere. "What? Jealous? Me? Are you kidding? That Aya guy…there's something about him. I just don't trust the guy around you, that's all."

Katarina shook her head. "Sounds like typical jealous boyfriend to me."

"I am not—wait, did you just call me your boyfriend?"

"I did. I'm not going to change that unless you give me good reason to." Katarina commented, trying to hide a smile as she was taking a sip from her straw. "Anyway, I'm sure that having Aya as my assistant will work about fine. You worry too much."

"Did I hear that you have a new assistant, onna?" Wufei asked from the table across from them where he sat with Sally.

The blonde scowled before answering. "I do, Wufei. He'll be taking your job, if he's good enough."

"What? How dare you—"

"Watch your mouth around me. I'm your boss, Wufei, I could fire you if I wanted to."

The Chinese man rose to his feet, slamming his hands on the table. "What did you say? You can't threaten me like that! I'm a Gundam pilot, so I have job security, onna!"

Duo laughed nervously. "Technically she can, Wu-man. She IS the boss. You might want to tone it down."

"So help me, Maxwell…"

Sally finished her lunch and grabbed Wufei by the ear. "It's time to get back to work. I've just about had it with you today."

Watching Sally drag Wufei from the cafeteria, Katarina snickered. It would be hard for Duo to get used to her having a male assistant, but he'd have to do it. Maybe she should go to Cassie about this. She didn't know. The blonde looked at Duo and smiled. Things with this war or whatever it was were going to get worse before they got better and she knew that from experience. She must've been in a daze, because when Duo touched her hand, she jumped in surprise.

"What's up, Katarina? You don't seem all here." He asked, concerned.

"I'm just worrying about what's to come. I can't stop worrying about the danger I'm going to put you in."

Duo cocked his head to the side. "Danger? Babe, what danger could you possibly put me in?"

"I'm having these Gundams built so you can go out and fight. At first I didn't think anything of it, but then I decided that I was the main cause of you going to have to fight again." She explained.

"Look, babe, we'll worry about that when the time comes." He said, kissing her nose. "Right now we have to focus on getting those Gundams finished and off the ground as soon as possible. Everything will be fine."

Katarina nodded. "Okay. I'll believe you for now. Now it's time to get back to work and get some more of those Gundams finished!"

...

Once work started the next day, that was the end of steady work. Aya seemed to be the center of attention in the hangar. Rumors were going around about who he was and what he was doing there. The mechanics couldn't talk of anything but Katarina's new assistant.

Heero and Trowa had even come to get a look at him. The Japanese man was the most suspicious of the two, but that didn't stop the German from suspecting him either. Both men had their eyes trained on him as they were joined by Quatre and Wufei. The Chinese man snorted as he stared on.

"You'd think they'd never seen anyone new work here before." He grumbled.

Quatre shook his head. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. I talked to him a bit this morning and he seems nice enough. He's very reserved though."

"Hn." Heero grunted. "I still don't trust him. There seems to be something about him that I don't quite trust."

Trowa nodded. "Something about him seems out of place. I know that on his application his credentials were perfect, but he seems too…practiced. He's very stiff for an assistant. He seems over trained."

The blonde male gave a nervous chuckle. "I'm sure if you ask Duo, he's only worried about him stealing Katarina."

"That idiot should look at the bigger picture." Wufei scoffed. "I think there could be more at stake than he realizes. He'll realize that soon enough. Until then, let him keep going about his merry way."

Quatre was about to scold him, when the topic of conversation joined them. Duo halted in the middle of them looking none too happy to say the least. Something had obviously happened, though no one would ask. When no one did ask, Duo burst into full detail of his own accord.

"That bastard needs to stay the hell away from Katarina!" he burst quite loudly. "I think he's got something else in mind already and he just started!"

"I would say that your first statement is impossible since Aya is her personal assistant." Trowa pointed out flatly.

The brunette seemed to fluster at this comment. "I know that! I may not be able to do anything about that, but I don't have to like it."

"That onna has made you weak, Maxwell." Wufei chided. "Your emotions are all over the place."

Duo was about to answer when Katarina walked up to the group with a large smile on her face. His lips were then buttoned. "Hi, guys! How's everyone doing today?"

"We're fine, little sister. How about you? You seem to be in a good mood." Quatre pondered.

"More than good." She replied. "I've had a _lot_ less work to do with Aya around. I've got to say that he's a God send. He can pick up the stuff that's not as important for me to do. That's just fantastic! Now I can focus on what really needs to be done and possibly get back to my quarters at night at a decent hour!"

"That's good news. Maybe we can get the Gundams rebuilt a little faster if you're not focused on all the little things." Heero stated.

The blonde blinked in response to the full sentence quoted by the perfect soldier, but smiled. "Yes, hopefully we can finish them ahead of schedule now."

"I'm glad everything's working out for you, Kat." Duo said in a flat tone. "It's marvelous that Aya's here to help you."

Sensing the cynicism in that statement, Katarina fought not to snap as she replied. "You know, it is great that Aya's here helping out. I was just lucky to see his application."

The rebuttal was postponed when the redhead made his way over to her with a clipboard and a pen. His icy stare locked for a moment with Duo's before his attention was returned to his employer. "I finished the orders for those parts that you needed. They just need your signature and they're ready to send."

"That's fantastic, Aya. Thank you very much. You've saved me about an hour's worth of work. Now I can go on and inspect the wiring on Heavyarms and Sandrock." Katarina said happily.

Aya smiled gently back. "You're welcome. What's next on my list?"

Duo saw this smile and growled under his breath. "I don't know. Get a life and grow up maybe?"

Quatre shuddered as he saw the look that passed through his sister's eyes. "Would you excuse us for a moment?" Dragging Duo by the ear away from the group, she proceeded to take her anger out. "What is it that you're trying to do here?" she hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The brunette hissed back. "I'm looking out for your well-being, if you must know."

"My well-being?" she roared. "How is my well-being at stake here other than the fact that I'm getting my work done?"

The brunette flushed a brilliant shade of red before answering. "I know, Kat! I just don't like that guy, that's all! Something's off with him!"

Aya came to a halt beside Kat, a scowl on his face. "Is there a problem here, Kat?"

The angry look remained on her face as she grabbed his arm and stared Duo in the face. "No, there's no problem, Aya. I was just on my way back to work. Now, if you'll excuse me, Duo, I'll see you at dinner."

As the two of them walked away, Duo swore that he saw a smirk on Aya's face as they were leaving. He stormed past the both of them, swearing he heard something as he went. Aya was definitely trying to send him some sort of challenge. As Katarina went to inspect the wiring, Aya was looking over another checklist as he mumbled something to Duo.

"Why should you trust me, Mr. Maxwell? After all, to you, I'm just…how to put this? Ah, in the words of Henry Rollins, 'I'm a liar.'"

...

End Chapter


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Zechs glanced up from his clipboard and chuckled lowly before looking back down at it. "Seems there's some commotion about Kat's new assistant,"

Cassandra blinked, looking up from her computer a moment before looking past Zechs and through the window of Howard's office.

"Oh, now he's pretty."

Zechs snorted before setting the clipboard down on Howard's desk and heading for the door. "I'm going to go check on that diagnostic Tallgeese is running."

Cassandra nodded at him, smirking a little as he slipped out of the office and leapt onto the metal stairs that led up to the platform resting on Tallgeese's right shoulder. That would definitely give him a better view of the drama without bringing him too dangerously close to it. As the commotion outside grew a little louder, Cassandra reached over and turned up the speakers on Howard's stereo, frowning as a familiar song began playing.

Every time they played one of Camui's songs on the radio, her stomach would flutter and a lump would suddenly clog her throat.

She closed her eyes for a moment as his sweet voice filled the room and rolled over her, completely relaxing her. Without even realizing it, she'd begun to twist the ring around on her finger while her voice sang quietly to the music. She hadn't heard this song in so long she'd almost messed up on singing it. It was one of Camui's earlier songs from before she'd even met him, and while not one of her favorites, she cherished it more in that moment than she ever had before.

"How ya' doin' kiddo?" Howard was standing in the open doorway, smiling softly at her.

"I'm alright," Cassandra focused her attention back onto her computer and ran through a few more calculations before she was satisfied. "Well, I've gotten the interlink pretty much ready to install in the Gundams. I'm sending Quatre and Duo up to the training simulators tomorrow morning to get in a few hours with the system. Tallgeese seems to be able to slip in and out of the simulators pretty easily with the interlink installed. Shouldn't be a problem installing them with the Gundams once the testing phase is done. Three of the five coms are ready, but I'm waiting until the last minute to put them in, but we'll set a pass code so Tallgeese will know it's safe. I can't run the risk of someone stealing a Gundam just to try and pull a fast one. And those boys are stubborn. Even injured, they might want to hold out on their own for as long as possible. By the way, Heero wants me to get it installed in Wing Zero first,"

"Makes sense. But will she be able to maintain the same amount of attention on Zechs if she's having to safely navigate another Gundam away from the battle while still fighting in it herself?"

"I've got that bug cleaned out already. She'll only need minimal access into the main systems in order to set the autopilot to safely navigate the Gundam or any of the other mobile suits out of the fray. Once out of the line of fire, we'll have a med-ship pick them up and bring them home. Tallgeese won't need as much access as had been originally suggested. She just needs enough to do what's necessary."

"What pass code do you suggest?"

"Each pilot will have their own so as to limit the chance of widespread confusion. Not only will each pilot have their own code, but they'll also be coded to match both voice pattern and finger print, as well as DNA. That way if the pilot is injured enough that he can't speak or use the finger panel, Tallgeese can analyze the pilot's DNA from the computer. I've talked to Kat and Lady Une about inputting some kind of system into each Gundam and mobile suit that, in this instance, will be able to collect and scan a small amount of DNA from the pilot."

"Ingenious!"

Cassie smiled as the song ended and turned down the music. "Of course it's ingenious. Camui thought of it."

Howard nodded. "That's right, I remember him mentioning that once." Howard glanced over his shoulder. "Look's like Kat's bringing over her assistant. You should go out there since you're the second lead on this project, don't you think?"

Cassandra smirked a little. "You are so right, Howard, darling. Besides, I think his attention needs to be turned from Duo for a little while. I think Tallgeese is enough to blow his mind, wouldn't you agree?"

Howard grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, I do,"

"I knew you would," Cassandra giggled as she slipped passed him and out onto the main catwalk. "You got a good view from up there, Zechs?"

He walked towards the railing of the platform and leaned against it, grinning down at her. "Perfect view."

"Oh good," Cassandra turned her attention to Tallgeese for a moment before Kat and Aya approached her.

"Cassie!" Kat walked right up to her and grinned from ear to ear. "I would like you to meet Aya Fujiyama, my new assistant." Kat turned back to Aya as the two shook hands. "Aya, this is Cassandra Matthews, she's helping me lead up this whole operation. But her main concern is the Tallgeese III here, since she's the creator of this beautiful contraption,"

Recognition flashed in Aya's eyes for a brief second which went by unnoticed by everyone around them. _So this is the woman…_

"Pleasure," Cassie smirked a little and glanced over Aya's shoulder at Duo before looking back at Kat and grinning nastily. "Trouble in paradise?"

"I don't want to go there. So!" Kat grinned up at Tallgeese. "How's it coming?"

"Good so far. I've worked out the kinks in the programming and even the integration with the other suits, but that's a lot of explaining that can wait for our next briefing. In the meantime, we've managed to revamp every inch of her possible in the limited amount of time we've had with her. Zechs plans to take her out on the training field this afternoon."

"Awesome!" Kat breathed, genuinely impressed. "Maybe then I can drag you onto another project? I'm sure Zechs can handle Tallgeese on his own now, right?"

Cassandra chuckled, nodding. "I think it's more of she can handle him. What do you think, Tal?"

"I think he has a lot of learning to do,"

Zechs dropped his wrench and glared at her while Aya's lips popped open in surprise and he almost lost his hold on the clipboard.

"A lot of learning to do!?" Zechs growled, indignant. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I happen to think I'm a damn good pilot!"

"You are," Tallgeese conceited, the green eye lights flashing briefly. "But the first time you piloted me, you suffered a heart attack."

"That was ages ago! I wasn't prepared for that kind of action. You were a pretty powerful suit to handle,"

"But I wasn't at my full potential. You wouldn't let me help you. You fought me. Even though there was only a remnant of my programming that remained, I could still observe and suggest. You ignored me and had a heart attack. Now that mother has restored me, how do you know you can handle me any better?"

"How about we take it one baby step at a time?" Cassandra suggested, smiling up at Zechs. "Tal, come on now, he's not going to be the best on the first shot. He's not Ca-" Cassandra stopped herself, frowning deeply. "He's just not used to you yet. Take it easy on him."

"He's not what?" Aya questioned a moment later as Cassandra turned back towards them.

"Hm?"

"You started to say something but then you stopped yourself. He's not who, if you don't mind my asking?"

Cassandra frowned a bit, blinking. "It's nothing of importance, don't worry about it. I was just talking about her original pilot, that's all."

Aya nodded, turning back to Katarina. "Is this the only completed Gundam?"

"So far," Kat sighed quietly. "Hopefully, though, with you here, we'll get the others done a lot faster. Come on, let's go check on the Wing Zero and Altron…Thanks, Cassie!"

"No problem," Cassie grinned as the two walked away, Aya still glancing briefly at Tallgeese in a bit of surprise. She chuckled as Zechs jumped back down onto the catwalk and folded his arms over his chest.

"I still have a lot of learning to do?"

When she smiled at him, it was genuine. "Don't look at me. I think you're doing just fine,"

...

The water drained in less than three seconds, sending the weak and battered man straight to the hard ground with a loud and unhealthy thud. For a second he was motionless, but all at once there was a flurry of movement as his lungs filled with air and he choked, shuddering and trying desperately to regain control over himself.

"He definitely doesn't like the stasis pod," Anubis chuckled to himself, kneeling down next to Camui's shaking body. "We're testing the limits on the Cerberus Machine. Trying to see how long we can leave you hooked up to it without giving you a reprieve. I guess we left you in too long because it nearly killed you. Luckily," Anubis rose back to his feet, nudged Camui's side with his foot and rolled him onto his back. "this little stasis pod turned out to be a handy little device. It pretty much saved your life," Anubis looked back down at Camui and smiled as he began struggling to his feet. "I know, I know. You're tired, right? Can hardly even sit up on your own, let alone stand. I imagine you have one hell of a headache, too, or you will in a few minutes." Anubis turned towards the door and snapped his fingers, drawing Logan towards him. "Take him back down to the holding cell. Try to remember to feed him this time, will you?"

Logan chuckled a little as he hooked his arms under Camui's shoulders and hauled the man up and out of the room. Anubis smiled a little before turning to follow them. Once they had made it to the holding cell and Logan had tossed Camui inside, Anubis decided to taunt him a little more.

"How long has it been since I last gave you an update on the matters at hand?" He shrugged a little, smirking. At this point, Camui had rolled onto his back and was lying spread eagle on the floor, staring up at the ceiling blankly. "I've finally been able to integrate a spy into Preventer and boy did he have some interesting and fabulous information to give me this morning! The Gundams, most of them at least, are almost complete! It seems that this Katarina woman they have leading the project knows more about what she's doing than I had originally thought, but that's no problem at all. Plans have already been set in motion that will easily solve that problem. Of course, I plan to wait a few more days and cause as much chaos and confusion as I possibly can." Anubis walked to the other side of the cell and draped his arms through the bars, grinning nastily. "Want to hear the most fabulous news of all time? It seems you were right all those years ago, Camui. Cassandra is one quirky and clever woman. She's managed to completely restore the Tallgeese III, including reinitiating the A.I. systems."

Here Camui blinked, smiling softly.

"I don't know why you're smiling. It's not going to help much, considering my Diabolos Gundam will crush Tallgeese with no problem. The irony of it is that you'll be the one controlling it when said crushing takes place. Then again, Zechs Merquise is her pilot…it might be interesting to see the two top-most ranking pilots ever to have been a part of OZ go up against one another. Of course, you'll have the advantage."

Camui groaned as the pain from his headache finally began to kick in.

"I bet that hurts like a wicked bitch, doesn't it? I should get you something for that. I wouldn't want you getting sick before all the fun starts!" Anubis danced in a small circle for a moment, laughing nastily like an insane person. "Oh, oh, ooooh! I know what I should do! I should arrange a reunion between you and Cassandra! Now, wouldn't that just be fun!?"

"S-Stay away from her," Camui growled, forcing himself upright again.

"Ah, but she does so amuse me!" Anubis bounced away from the bars as Camui charged for him. "Ooh, I keep forgetting how that riles you up! You've still got some fire left in you after all! Cassandra will be so pleased to hear it. I think it's about time we tell her what really happened to you, wouldn't you agree? Come on, we both know Cassandra. She'll do something stupid eventually that will just lead her straight here. That will be a fun get together, wouldn't you agree?"

"You sick son of a bit-"

"Ah ha! There you are. Feisty and mouthy. Now that's the soldier I've been waiting to see. Give your regards to Cassie, shall I?" Anubis laughed as he turned and jogged back up the stairs.

"Stay away from her!" Camui shouted up after him, gripping the bars and giving them a violent shake. "Anubis! ANUBIS!"

...

Lady Une stared at the pictures on her desk and took a deep, shuddering breath. After months of fruitless attempts, they'd finally managed to get a spy into Orion. But the pictures sent back were nothing like she expected and like nothing she had ever wanted to see.

"You said that project Cerberus was scrapped," Lady Une murmured as she looked up at the officer sitting on the other side of her desk.

"Yes, Ma'am. Unfortunately, Orion somehow managed to get their hands on the original plans, not to mention they seem to have an intimate knowledge of how the machine works,"

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the lead scientist on the project is the one plugged into it," Lady Une growled, tossing one of the close-up photos at the officer. "Tetsuya Camui,"

"What? This is…? How is that possible?" The officer stared at the picture a little harder, hardly able to recognize the man. "It's been such a long time since I've heard tell of that man, I didn't even recognize him. Honestly, the possibility of him having been a candidate…well, the thought never crossed my mind."

"I see," Lady Une sighed quietly as she looked back down at the pile of photos. "I will call a briefing this afternoon, but I want only a select few people present. Sir, I think I should inform you of how close to home this incident has hit,"

"I'm well aware of Camui's association with OZ and his friendship with His Excellency, Treize,"

"Yes, well, that has nothing to do with what I'm about to tell you. Tetsuya Camui was the original commissioner of the Gundam Tallgeese,"

"I thought Cassandra Matthews was…" The officer's voice trailed off and his brown eyes narrowed. "I see. She was his fiancé, was she not?"

"Yes, she was. Actually, at this point, I believe she still is,"

"Alright, tell me everything you know."

...

The mess hall was packed and ridiculously loud.

"I don't know why I came down here. I can't hear myself think," Kat muttered as she sat down with Duo and Quatre. "How can you stand it?"

"You get used to it after a while," Quatre offered. Duo all but ignored her. Which only agitated her.

"Are you still being a jerk about Aya? Duo, seriously, grow up! I have no interest in him other than how he works. I'm very much happy with my braided American boyfriend."

"It's not me you have to convince," Duo grumbled under his breath. "Strawberry head hasn't done anything to sway our accusations. I'm telling you, he can't be trusted,"

"I got the same lecture from Heero already, thank you. And believe it or not, even Zechs expressed a little bit of concern this morning. He said there was something about Aya that wasn't quite right. Look, I don't know what's got all of your panties in a twist, but drop it, ok? I really need the help and I've gotten so much done in the last two days! So much more than I would have managed to finish without his help. And now that Cassie is freed up to start helping with the wireless programming, things will move a lot faster."

"Speaking of that, did you see the test run yesterday for Tallgeese?" Quatre questioned, excited. "I've never seen anything like it before! The suit is so fast, and despite the fact that she can move on her own, you can tell when Zechs is piloting. It's incredible and definitely a sight to behold. And despite what Zechs claims, I think she rattled him up a bit. He was walking funny this morning,"

Kat snorted, nearly spitting her soda all over them. "Sorry I missed that. He's got another test run this afternoon, too. He's bound and determined to prove to Tallgeese that he doesn't have anything else to learn about piloting."

"It just sucks that he's wrong," Duo chuckled, frowning as one of the officers that worked closely with Lady Une ran up to them.

"Lady Une is calling an emergency briefing. She wants you all up to her office as soon as possible!"

The three sitting at the table glanced at each other before scarffing down the remainder of their food and bolting for the door.

...

"Any idea what this meeting is about?" Kat questioned as she joined Cassandra and Zechs in the hallway. All three were headed in the same direction and looked just as exhausted as they could possibly be.

"I don't know," Zechs admitted as he held the door to Lady Une's personal conference room open for the women to step across the threshold, trying desperately not to seem as tired and battered as he really was. Tallgeese had given him a run for his money the previous afternoon during their first test exercise and before that he hadn't had much sleep. His body was starting to feel it, too. "But considering the limited audience, I'd say it was important,"

Those already occupying the room were few in number. There were the original five Gundam Pilots of course, added to that were Howard, Noin, Sally, Aya per Kat's request, and a few official looking people that they didn't recognize.

"Good, you're all here," Lady Une said grimly as she dropped a small stack of papers on top of the table. "I've limited this meeting to the few of you because what I'm about to share with you needs to remain within this group. You are the ones this news is going to effect the most," Une glanced at Cassandra and frowned deeply. "Some more than others. These gentlemen are from the intelligence division of Preventer, hired by the President himself to find out any and all information possible in regards to Orion and what they're up to. As you all know, in recent months, production of the Orion's main two Gundams, one manned and one unmanned, has skyrocketed beyond our own. Luckily, we've been able to complete our Gundams with enough time for initial training and integration of the interlink between the Wing Zero and the Tallgeese through all of the other mobile suits. However, new intelligence about the unmanned Gundam Orion has built has come in. Our initial theories about how Anubis might have copied the Tallgeese system was, in all honesty, completely wrong."

"What do you mean all of our theories were wrong?" Cassandra asked, wrapping her fingers a little tighter around the hot mug of coffee that Zechs had passed to her a few minutes prior. "Did he or did he not copy the Tallgeese system?"

"Not even close," One of the intelligence officers spoke up at last, frowning deeply. "Orion isn't using an artificial intelligence at all,"

"But that's good, isn't it?" Kat questioned. "That means that-"

"They're calling it Project Cerberus."

"Kuso," Cassie muttered under her breath, too immediately riled after hearing that little tidbit to keep from transitioning into Japanese. She turned her head toward the wall and growled low in the throat, another indication of how angry she was.

Kat stopped, confused by the interruption. "Project what?"

"Project Cerberus," The officer repeated, passing out a few reports he had. "Fifteen years ago, the Organization of Zodiac, aka OZ, began work on a new and sophisticated way to unman the front lines and erase the need for soldiers to physically control their mobile suits. This machine was designed like a virtual reality simulation. The soldiers would plug in far from the battlefield and avoid physical injury. OZ had hoped that this would be a way to maintain their numbers while diminishing that of the Alliance." The officer stopped as he finished passing out the paperwork and walked back towards the front of the room.

"So what happened? I mean, obviously the project was never completed, otherwise we would have been using this technology ourselves." Kat questioned as she flipped through the report. The officer frowned again, looking towards her.

"Oh the project was completed. However, it never made it to its initial testing phase."

"How come?"

"Because the lead scientist on the project insisted the science was too complicated and was not safe for the soldiers who would be using it," The officer said simply, though he didn't sound very convinced.

"And he was right," Howard said sharply. "That project was scrapped for good reason. The system was designed for short term use but OZ wanted a more lengthy solution that would, ultimately, require permanent integration of the soldier's mind with the computer system in order to work properly."

"So if the lead scientist didn't believe it would work, why'd he bother with the project?" Kat asked, intrigued.

"Because to understand the science, you had to develop it first," Cassie murmured. "Once he'd created it and understood what it could and would do and what it would require, he realized it was too complicated for a human brain to undergo for long periods of time. One trial use and it was likely the soldier would be brain dead before the end of the battle. They ran computer generated simulations but he didn't like the end results on any of them. There was too great a risk of brain damage for him to condone it."

"That's true. However, neural inhibitors were designed to minimize that risk. Of course, even without trying the inhibitors, the head scientist concluded that even the inhibitors wouldn't work. The project was scrapped and all prototypes were destroyed. Unfortunately, it looks like Orion got their hands on the plans for this design. This brings us to the ultimate point; Orion's Diabolos Gundam has been integrated with the Cerberus system. It's fully operational and apparently has been for a while. The suit isn't, but the system is,"

"Nothing about the Cerberus system was ever saved in any of OZ's systems, therefore, Preventer doesn't have them," Heero said casually. "Meaning they went directly to the source. The lead scientist,"

"That's not possible." Cassandra muttered. "You know that as well as I do, Heero,"

"Why not?" It was Zechs who inquired this time.

"Because the lead scientist is dead. He has been for a long time," She murmured, looking away sadly. Zechs' eyes narrowed. No way…

"Then they must have gotten to him before he died,"

"No, they didn't," Cassie murmured, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "All of the schematics for that system were destroyed, there's no way Anubis could have gotten that information. He wasn't even working for Howard when Camui developed it," She'd let it slip and hadn't meant to, but that didn't matter any more. Cassandra was about to continue when her mobile phone began buzzing in her back pocket. Surprised, because the thing never ever rang any more, she pulled it out and glanced at the screen. _Shoji Camui._ Tetsuya's younger brother and lead guitarist, as well as one of her best friends back in the day. What the heck was he calling her for? She hit the ignore button and put the phone back in her pocket before Lady Une could get agitated.

"What does this mean?" Kat whispered.

"It means that Anubis took the easy way out and hooked up a living being to a machine. Instead of artificial intelligence he has an actual living intelligence. They had to know the risks, who would volunteer for that?" Quatre asked, slightly astounded.

"That's just it. No one volunteered. The soldier plugged in didn't do so voluntarily, and I know that for a fact." Lady Une said quietly.

"Approximately seven years ago, Orion initiated its first testing phase after the end of the Mariemaya war. Now, it wasn't until two years later that they began work on their version of the Cerberus project. It's been fully operational for five years."

"Five years?" Cassandra asked, astonished. "How is he alive?" She growled quietly when her back pocket began buzzing again and Une gave her a sharp look. Same caller, so she once again hit ignore.

"Apparently, the neural inhibitors _do_ work," The officer said softly, suddenly unwilling to go forward. Cassandra stared at the officer, her eyes wide and her lips parted in horror. Only one person in the world knew how to create those inhibitors. And if Orion hadn't started testing the Cerberus system until after the last war…

She gasped quietly, and Zechs tensed beside her.

"Is there any chance of survival if he's unplugged and the neural inhibitors removed?" Zechs asked, catching on to Cassandra's sudden despair. Was this the soldier she thought had left her all those years ago in battle? And was it who he thought it was…?

"Honestly, I don't know," Sally murmured.

"So what do we do?" Kat asked.

"Everything within our power to destroy the Diabolos Gundam and the Cerberus machine. I don't care what happens after that, but I want the soldier assessed. If he can be saved, I want it done." Lady Une said rather snappishly, which surprised those in the room.

"If I knew more about how the system worked, I might be able to give you a better answer, but I have no way of knowing how much power is being pumped into that machine or his brain. If I knew that…" Sally sighed quietly. "If there's anything that can be done to save him, believe me, I'll do it,"

"I'll give you all of the details about the system that I can. Cassandra can help," Howard offered, glancing nervously up at the woman who was so much like a daughter to him. His heart clenched and his chest tightened. He knew exactly what she was thinking and he knew how devastated she would be if…

Cassandra's phone buzzed again, this time with an alert of 911 so that she would answer. "I'm sorry, I need to answer this." She stepped away to the corner of the room and angrily muttered, "Mushi mushi?"

"Do we know the state of the soldier?" Quatre asked quietly. "Is he in good health? Obviously Orion has gone to great lengths to make sure he stays in good condition,"

"Yes," Lady Une murmured. "He's in good health. They're making sure he stays that way. I gather that's how he's survived as long."

"Are there photos?" Sally asked suddenly. "It might help me to get a better baring on his condition if I can see the machine,"

Lady Une hesitated and then nodded. "Yes, the report did include several high quality digital photos."

"Let's see them," Wufei said casually. "If we're to get a better baring on Orion's operation, we might as well see them,"

"I know," Lady Une snapped again, and then sighed heavily, pressing her fingers to her temples to stem the oncoming headache. This had been harder than she thought it would be.

"It's someone we know, isn't it?" Trowa spoke up at last, watching Lady Une carefully. "A soldier we all fought with,"

"Yes,"

"Show us,"

"Shoji, slow down!" Cassandra's voice rose for a moment and the room grew quiet again. "Shoji, I don't under-wait, what? What do you mean? When? On whose authority did-what?" Cassandra whirled and faced Lady Une, her face pale. "I'll call you back!" When she hung up, she seemed to hesitate, then slowly walked forward, her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides as she tried to take in the full conversation she'd just had. "You ordered his grave to be exhumed. We're talking about a project that was scrapped fifteen years ago on which he was the lead. You're saying there is someone actually hooked into the machine." When Lady Une nodded slowly, Cassandra moaned and covered her face, then turned and pressed herself against the nearest wall.

"Cassandra…I'm so sorry," Lady Une murmured as she at last grabbed the remote to the projector and clicked it on. The initial image was of the entire lab and the Cerberus machine was smack in the middle, though no great detail could be seen in the image.

Cassandra pressed her back against the wall and felt her heart racing wildly in her chest as she reached for the mug of coffee Zechs have given her earlier and tried to stomach the cold liquid for a moment. Lady Une had ordered Tetsuya Camui's grave to be exhumed, they were digging up the body that had been found in a debris field in space five years ago. A body they had identified as Camui. Why would she give such an order if she thought he was dead?

The second image, much closer to the Cerberus machine, made her heart stop. The mug of hot coffee slipped from her fingers and shattered on the floor and the tears came rolling down like an uncontrollable tide.

"Oh. Ooh, no, Howard!"

In a second, Howard came around the table and grasped her shoulders as she began knocking them back against the wall, trying to contain the anguish she felt. She stared at the photos on the screen and wanted to scream and cry and rage all at once, but she clamped down on her jaw and held it in as best she could.

"Tetsuya Camui," Lady Une finally announced as the last image froze on the huge screen.

"Damn it," Howard whispered, closing his eyes, trying to fight back the sadness he felt toward Cassandra and the hurt she was now suffering.

"That's just…" Kat couldn't even finish what she was going to say. As the silence stretched, one of the joint chiefs finally cleared his throat.

"Miss Matthews, I am very sorry. Had we realized," He sighed quietly and bowed his head. "Any information you could give us on the Cerberus device that we might not know would be greatly appreciated,"

Cassandra nodded as she gazed back over at the projector and stared at Camui's unconscious form. There was a scar on the left side of his face that he hadn't had before, and his hair was longer, shaggy even. He looked healthy, still physically fit, but just because he looked healthy on the outside, that didn't mean he was in good shape. She had to look away again after a moment and struggled to draw a full breath as she pulled away from Howard and wiped her eyes. She grabbed the file that had been passed out earlier and flipped it open, sniffling as she stared down at the report, knowing everyone, including Zechs, was watching her very carefully.

"Is this the report from the original Cerberus?"

"No, ma'am, this is what we were able to get from Orion. We're not sure how accurate it might be as we suspect the information was leaked to us on purpose,"

Cassandra nodded and continued to flip through the report when Heero spoke up suddenly. "Cerberus came before Zero. It was the original idea, correct?"

"Yes," murmured Cassandra as she skimmed over the last of the report. "Treize commissioned Camui to try and come up with a better program with a neural link for the mobile suits to increase battle accuracy, and when Romefeller suggested something unmanned, Camui ran with it. By the time the thing was built and went through its first test simulations, he kicked it and began developing something different. Camui didn't design Zero, wasn't a part of that project at all," Cassandra closed the file with a snap and dropped it onto the table, bracing her palms against the marble as she tried to get her head back on straight.

Finally, she took a deep breath and puffed it out in frustration. "If the report is accurate, they've only had the system in operation for five years, meaning it took two years to get the parts needed to build the damn thing. Two years we could have spent searching for him."

"We _were_ searching for him up until the point when the body was found," The young man who had spoken earlier said quietly. "We thought it was him, but the body was so charred, I'm not sure why the M.E. didn't follow through with a DNA test or confirm through dental records,"

"Probably because the M.E. is under the employ of Orion," Cassandra muttered, rubbing her face. She'd been tired before, but now she was just completely exhausted. And she was struggling, very hard, to hold her composure. "The neural inhibitors decrease the brain function, which slows the heart rate and keeps vitals stable. It also lessens the exposure to the radiation put off by Cerberus. Do we know if they're giving him any kind of reprieve? He looks too healthy to have been plugged in for five years,"

"We can't be sure, but judging by the physical state of his body, we believe so,"

"Depending on how many reprieves he's given, he might not suffer any type of brain injury at all," Cassandra breathed a quiet sigh of relief, then pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers.

"But you said earlier that it was too dangerous, that that's why the project was scrapped," Noin prodded, slightly confused.

"That's because the user, once plugged in, can't come out on his own. Someone else has to be there to unplug him, and considering the chaos of the time, Camui wasn't about to trust his comrades lives to any one person. It was too risky. And the instruments are extremely delicate. One shakey hand when installing the hardware, or when plugging a person into the machine could kill him." She stopped here and took a deep breath, but it sounded ragged to everyone in the room. How hard was she fighting not to break down in front of them all right now?

"How does it work?" Quatre encouraged quietly as he reached out and gently touched Cassandra's hand.

"A small chip is surgically implanted at the base of the neck, which is wired directly into the cerebral cortex." Cassandra turned back toward the projector, and though it pained her greatly to do so, she grabbed the remote and zoomed in closer, isolating Camui's upper body. Then she moved forward and pointed to the neural inhibitors at his temples. With the photo zoomed in, you could see the faint blue glow the devices. "These are the inhibitors. You can't see it, but just behind the back of the skull, there's a small protrusion with a matching chip. When the user is placed into the chair, the chips lock like magnets and initiate a small shock to the cortex that temporarily parylizes the body. It keeps him from moving when the control crystal is plugged in." She studied the photo but couldn't see any indication of the control hardware. "It's a thin needle with a small quartz crystal at the end which is inserted through the magnetic chips and locks into the cortex,"

"Sounds painful," Quatre murmured and tears filled Cassandra's eyes suddenly.

"It is," she croaked, unable to to look away from the photo.

There was solemn silence again as Cassandra slowly backed away from the projector screen and leaned against the conference table. Her hands shook as she brushed them through her hair, just to give herself something to do.

"Cassandra," It was Wufei's voice that drifted over to her from the opposite end of the room and she turned her head only slightly to indicate that she heard him. "I'm sorry,"

Another stunned silence befell the room as Cassandra slowly turned toward him. Zechs' chest tightened at the sight of her face. She was devastated, fighting so hard to keep her composure. It wouldn't last, and she looked so exhausted.

"Say it," Cassandra said quietly. "Say it, Wufei,"

"I destroyed his mobile suit seven years ago." Wufei slowly stood up, then bowed his head. All of his arguments, his temper, his anger over the past few months now seemed so pointless. To him, women were the weaker species, but as he looked back up at Cassandra and then looked at the horrifying image behind her on that projector screen, he realized, without a doubt, that she was one of the strongest women he'd ever met.

"Wufei…" Sally murmured as she reached out and touched his hand gently.

"I thought I had spared him. When they said he hadn't been found, I thought I must have miscalculated, that the blast had killed him anyway. Had I had any indication that Orion was lying in wait to pick him up, I never would have left him behind. Forgive me, I think I've done more than an injustice to you than I have ever thought myself capable of. I was wrong,"

"Wufei," Cassandra murmured, staring at him as he pulled his hand away from Sally and looked her in the face.

"Meiran died fighting for a cause and a people she believed in. She died fighting for me. That wasn't your fault, and I'm sorry. Lady Une, if you would excuse me, I would like to get back to work on Nataku,"

"Of course," She murmured, unsure if she had even spoken loud enough for him to hear her before he walked briskly out of the room.

"Cassandra, if you can tell me the basics on how to install the interlink com in the Wing Zero, I can take care of that this afternoon since the parts arrived,"

Cassandra slowly turned her head to look at Heero, then nodded just as slowly. "Ok,"

"I can help install the others once the cockpits are ready," Katarina murmured as Cassandra pulled out a chair and fell into it. "We'll get this done, Cassie, I promise. The Gundams are almost ready, most of the mouldings are done, we just have to finish installing them, and then we can start test flights. We can do it,"

Cassandra nodded, staring into the dark marble surface of the conference table, sighing quietly as her phone began buzzing again. She reached for it, staring at the name on the caller ID. Zechs reached out suddenly and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to take the call.

"I need to know what I can tell him," Cassandra murmured as she looked over at Lady Une.

"Just tell him there's hope. Right now, that's all we know for sure,"

Cassandra nodded and connected the call. "Sho. I know, I'm sorry. Look, just meet me at the estate tonight, all right? It's going to take me a few hours to get there, but just meet me there ok? No, no, just you, please. Right, yeah, OK,"

The rest of the group was quiet until she completed the call and set her phone aside. Lady Une was just about to reinitiate the conversation when the door flew open.

"Lady!" It was her secretary, Helen, and she looked so flustered and out of breath when she entered, that all anyone could do was stare at her. "Line one, please, it's him,"

Lady Une just stared at her then reached for the phone, stopping only when Heero's fingers curled tightly around her wrist.

"Heero?"

"Wait a second," Heero murmured as he pulled his own mobile phone from his back pocket, as well as some sort of cable, then plugged in to the lanline and the mobile. He keyed in a few settings then nodded at her. "Now. It should be able to trace the call, if it's traceable,"

She nodded, then hit the button for the line one extention. "This is Une,"

"Hello, Lady Une. I gather I've given you sufficient time to look over the document I sent out for your intelligence department to intercept?"

"We received it, yes,"

"Ah, good. You sound a bit angry, I like that. A glimpse of the once ruthless Colonel Une that guarded his Excellency Treize so efficiently all those years ago? How is Mariemeia?"

"She doesn't have a place in this conversation,"

"Not yet," Anubis murmured, a soft chuckle coming over the speaker phone. Heero was hard at work keying commands into the mobile he'd plugged into the lanline, but he eventually looked up and shook his head. He couldn't trace the call's origin.

"If you've called to start making demands, get on with it. I have work to do!"

"What's the rush? You act as if there's a war at hand," Anubis again chuckled, which made Lady Une very angry, but he spoke again before she could snap at him. "However, there are no demands to be made. I'm going to war because I can, and because I want to cause harm. Regardless, do make sure miss Matthews gets the message. I want to make sure she realizes just what's at stake in this war."

"I think we've all gotten your message loud and clear, Mr. Tans,"

Zechs gave Cassandra's shoulder another gentle squeeze, and she reached back and curled her fingers over his, fighting very hard to keep her calm. He kept her steady, for the most part.

"Is she in the room? I'm not stupid, I can tell you have me on speaker," Another soft chuckle. "Cassandra, dear, what did you think about those photos? I bet you've never seen Camui quite so vulnerable before, have you?"

Cassandra opened her mouth to respond, but Zechs' squeezed her shoulder again and she shrank back in her chair. He knew how badly she wanted to respond, but he also knew it would be better if she didn't, and she looked up at him for the added support and control she knew he could give her.

"She's stunned silent, I see. Well, that's all right, I'll get the reaction I'm looking for out of her soon enough. Lady Une, please expect another package shortly, but understand that while Diabolos is not yet completely operational, it won't be long at all. I know you've seen the vast collection of mobile suits I've accumulated already, so I suggest you get back to work! I shall be in touch again soon. Ja ne!"

It wasn't until the line went dead that Zechs' grip on her shoulder lessened and his hand relaxed.

"We need to get those Gundams completed as soon as possible," Une finally murmured as she braced her hands on the conference table and gave them all a hard look. "Well? Get going!"

The group dispersed quickly, all of the Gundam pilots all headed down to the hangar. Katarina lingered behind for a moment, trying to find the rights words to tell Cassandra she was there, but failed miserably. Still, Cassandra reached out and grasped her hand tightly while trying to smile. Then Kat nodded and fled the room as well. The joint chiefs left quietly a few seconds later, leaving only Howard, Zechs, Cassandra and Lady Une behind.

"Cassandra, believe me when I tell you that I'm going to make sure that we do everything we possibly can to bring him home," Lady Une vowed, leaning down toward her a little. "I promise you that,"

"We'll all do everything we can," Zechs added, giving her shoulder yet another squeeze.

Cassandra nodded then looked up at Howard, her eyes filling with tears again. The man that had been the closest thing to a father her entire life smiled sadly, then reached across the table and clutched her hands.

"It's going to be all right, Cassie, I promise. We're going to bring him home and we're going to make sure Cerberus is destroyed completely, once and for all."

"I know you will," Cassandra croaked before she buried her face in her hands, then pushed her chair out and fled the room, no longer able to stand it. Zechs watched her, sighing heavily as he turned back toward Howard and Une.

"She may need a few days,"

"She can take as long as she needs," Lady Une snapped, regretting her tone. "Zechs, please go with her. Make sure she's all right. I don't want her to be alone,"

Zechs nodded once then headed out of the room.

"Oh, Howard!" Lady Une collapsed into her chair and buried her face in her hands. "How could we have let this happen? His excellency would be so disappointed,"

"I don't think even Treize could have seen this coming," Howard murmured, flinching as he reached out and took her hand. But considering what he knew about Treize and his connection to the Barton Foundation, as well as the drama that had created, Howard wasn't quite sure if that were completely true.

"We'll figure this out, Lady. We will,"

...

End Chapter


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The hangar was abuzz with activity as every mechanic was busy doing whatever their boss had been telling them to do. Their boss, however, looked quite tired. Kat was now sitting at her desk with her fifth cup of coffee looking over her checklist of things still needing to be done. It would still be a few more days before Deathscythe was complete and Duo would be able to take it on its first test flight. Sandrock and Heavyarms wouldn't be too far behind it. Now if she could only get the Altron and the Wing Zero caught up. Knowing Heero, he'd have Wing Zero under control in six hours or less. With a groan, Kat finally let her head collapse on her desk in exhaustion. A warm pressure on her shoulder caused her to raise back up to see who had joined her in her office. Aya stood above her with another cup of coffee in his hand as he sat it down on her desk.

"You looked like you needed another one." He stated gently, studying her as he sat in the vacant chair across from her.

"Thanks, Aya. I need this." The blonde commented, taking a sip of the steaming liquid. "I can't imagine why I'm so tired."

"I can. You haven't been to sleep in almost two days. You're overworking yourself and you're exhausted. You need to rest." Aya told her bluntly.

Katarina shook her head. "I can't. I've got to get Deathscythe up and running at least. The others aren't too far behind. If I can at least get Duo's Gundam up and running, I'll feel like I've accomplished something."

It was Aya's turn to shake his head. "Look Kat, you're not going to get anything done when you're so tired your eyes are bloodshot and you can't focus. If the assistant can give a suggestion, you should go get at least a few hours of sleep."

"That's really sweet of you, Aya, but like I said, I can't. I've got to get this work done. Orion has already got Diabolos up and running and the Tallgeese III is already almost fully functional. None of my mobile suits have been completed yet. I'm the only one that's behind."

"You'll be fine. I promise. I'll be taking care of things while you get some rest. What I'm not sure of I can always ask Quatre. Please, Kat. Trust me enough to let me do this?" Aya pleaded, his toughened outer exterior melting to that of a child who was trying to get his way.

There was no response. The blonde had slumped forward on the desk and fallen asleep, her coffee ignored. The tranquilizer he'd asked Noin to put in the coffee had done the trick. Aya rose from his chair and smiled gently. He thought that Katarina was working too hard due to the guilt she felt for not having completed a Gundam yet. The redhead hoped that she wouldn't mind that he carried her to her quarters.

Picking her up gently, Aya was overcome by a strange feeling. Not knowing what to make of it, he shrugged it off as stress and paid it no mind. Walking out through the hangar would most likely cause him trouble in the future. The cold expression returned to his face as he made his way from the office toward the workers' quarters.

Sally caught sight of him and nudged Noin as she saw Aya coming toward them. Katarina had her head nestled comfortably on the redhead's shoulder sound asleep. "That's not going to ruffle feathers at all."

Noin snickered at this. "No, of course not." Looking down at her wrist, she stared at the hands of her watch in an amused manner. "Duo should be coming back from his break in three…two…one…"

"What the hell is going on here?"

"How the hell do you do that?" Sally asked.

Noin shrugged. "You work with somebody enough…"

Their attention turned back to the two males facing one another. The look on either's face was one of cold blood. The redhead seemed to have a death grip on the blonde he was holding, whom was content to remain sleeping during the whole ordeal. A layer of ice seemed to spread over the hangar and all who were watching.

"Kat's exhausted. I'm taking her to her quarters to get some rest. Now, if you don't mind—"

"Kat? When did you get so familiar with her? Anyway, that's not the point. Why are you taking her? You could've gotten Quatre or myself to do it." Duo fired back.

Aya's stare went from icy to deadly. "While Katarina's out of commission, I take over her duties. Therefore, don't you have work to do, Mr. Maxwell? She'd hoped that you'd have Deathscythe up and running within the evening and ready for a test flight tomorrow."

Without another word, Aya pushed past him and continued out of the hangar. Duo stood fuming as he watched him go, catching sight of Quatre making his way over to him. The blonde's expression was one of concern as he came to a stop beside him.

"What was that all about, Duo?"

The brunette turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "He's taking Kat back to her quarters. Apparently she hasn't been sleeping." He snarled. "I want to know where he gets off thinking he can take over _my_ job!"

Quatre sensed the rage within him and couldn't help but brace himself. "What job is that? The job of being Kat's boyfriend. I don't think that's what he's trying to do. You have to realize that it's his _job_ to help her out. You might be reading too much into it."

"Whatever. According to Mr. Flamehead, I've got work to do. I'll see you at lunch, Q-man."

...

Aya managed to get to the personnel quarters without further confrontation. There was something about Duo Maxwell that angered him to no end. Part of it was the pilot 02's work ethic. Most of the time, instead of working on his Gundam, he was with Katarina. The blonde took his absence from work patiently, but he knew that she was angered by it sometimes.

As the automatic door slid open, he entered the dark living area. From what he could see, it was clean and uncluttered. Most of it was decorated with news clippings and pictures of the Gundams. On his way to the bedroom, Aya spotted a picture of a younger Katarina and her brother. There were other pictures of the younger Gundam pilots at various events and in surprisingly candid poses. They all seemed _happy_.

He gently laid Katarina on her bed and sat down on the edge. The redhead gazed at her sleeping form in an uncharacteristically melancholy way. She looked…peaceful; an expression that had been absent for some time apparently. Aya brushed a few fallen strands of hair from her face as he continued to watch over her. He'd only been working with her a week, but this was actually the first time he stopped to actually _look_ at her. Katarina was quite beautiful. He had to admit that her mechanical knowledge was quite impressive as well. He'd never met any woman like her.

"Don't worry, Katarina." Aya said softly. "I won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anyone hurt you." A pained look entered his eyes before he rose from the bed. "I promise you."

He left her quarters in silence. One glance at the redhead wouldn't give away anything important, but if one looked closer, something weighed heavy on his conscience; or his heart.

...

In a posh office that looked like it could've belonged to any leading CEO, a lone man sat behind the well-polished desk of solid oak. He folded his hands gracefully as he read over his scientists' latest report. It felt good to have a back-up plan. A smirk curled Anubis's lips as his phone began ringing. Picking up the receiver calmly, he answered with a polite "hello."

"Ah, I was wondering when I'd hear from you. How's your information gathering going?" He paused as the person on the other end explained the situation. "I see. That's great news. So Deathscythe will be the first completed? Maxwell is a powerful opponent. That's reassuring. The Preventers took that little slip of information as I expected they would. I especially loved Cassandra's reaction. I will move forward with the next stage of the plan very soon. I wanted to let you know that there is a back-up plan should Diabolos be defeated." Anubis chuckled at his associate's question. "I can't reveal the whole thing quite yet. I will tell you that it involves a virus. Yes. Keep up the good work. I'll be in touch."

A soft click signified the end of the conversation. A smile lit Anubis's face as he closed the folder that was on his desk. Good luck to the Preventers should his secret weapon have to be unleashed. It would take hold swift and with a vengeance. God have mercy on those it infected.

...

He entered her quarters quietly. It was after six and there had been no appearance made by Katarina. The brunette decided that he would check on her. As he made his way back to the bedroom, he saw that the blonde was still asleep. It hadn't even looked like she'd moved. How long had she been up? Shaking his head, he made his way to Kat's bed and sat down on the edge it, stroking her hair.

"Kat?"

"Mmm…"

"Babe, do you want anything to eat?" he asked, trying to hide a smile.

"Sleepy. Eat later." Kat replied in a groggy voice.

Duo chuckled. "Okay, I'll leave you alone to sleep then."

"Nooo." The blonde groaned, turning over to grab him around the waist. "Stay here. You're warm."

An all out laugh escaped him as he scooted a little closer to her. "Are you sure about that? Your brother would kill me and you both."

"Yes, stay." Kat repeated, pulling him closer to her. "Snuggle me."

"Alright! Alright!" Duo gave in, laughing. "Just hope Q-man doesn't find out."

Kat slid over to allow him room on the twin bed that was present in her bedroom. It was a bit of a squeeze, but the brunette was used to being confined and merely shifted Kat to her side. Duo moved to his side as well, wrapping his arms around her waist. He heard her sigh and snuggle in closer to him. For some reason, being near her made him drowsy. Either he was just so comfortable around Katarina or sleep was contagious. Within a few minutes, Duo felt his eyelids drooping. A few minutes later, he was sound asleep comfortably beside Kat in her small bed. His last conscious thought was that he wished that they could stay that comfortable.

...

The next morning came quicker than the blonde expected. It was hard to open her eyes as she began to stir. She felt the weight of something draped over her waist. Sitting up, Kat saw Duo laying on his stomach with one arm draped across her and the other arm dangling off the bed. She smiled gently as she tried to move without waking him. Once she'd accomplished that task, she headed for the bathroom. It was time to take a shower.

Kat turned on the shower and quickly stripped down. After she stepped under the warm jets, she felt more inclined to go back to sleep. The water quickly soaked her hair as she reached for the shampoo. How long had she been asleep, anyway? The last thing she remembered was sitting at her desk in her office. Kat didn't hear the bathroom door open and close, indicating that someone had joined her. She continued to lather her hair. The shower curtain was jerked back quite suddenly, causing her to shriek in surprise and attempt to cover herself the best she could. Duo was peering in at her with a mischievous grin on his face before letting out a whistle.

"Why are you trying to cover up? You've got a nice body." He commented, studying her appreciatively.

The blonde fumed as she glared at him. "I can't believe you! You've seen me naked!"

Duo laughed as he removed his shirt. "Not completely naked. You've covering up." Reaching inside the shower, he pulled her arms away from her body before grinning again. "Now I've seen you naked."

Katarina jerked away from him and turned around, still angry. "Well, now that you've seen me, I guess it doesn't matter whether you get in or not." She replied with a blush.

No sooner had the words left her lips than she felt a masculine form behind her, causing her to blush harder. She actually closed her eyes before turning around slowly, daring to peek once she'd done so. "What are you being so shy for? It's not like you've never seen me before."

"I've never seen you naked!" she snapped. "What about you? You've never seen a naked woman before, have you?"

The brunette didn't answer right away. "I have. I've done more than just see, I'll admit."

He couldn't tell whether the pink that tinged Katarina's cheeks was from embarrassment or anger. "So you've had sex before? I _knew_ Hilde was more than just your friend."

"Oh don't start." Duo jumped quickly. "Besides, what does that matter now?" he asked, pulling her into his arms as the warm water continued to fall on the both of them.

Katarina sighed. "I guess it doesn't. Just make sure it doesn't happen again, okay?"

Duo rested his cheek on the top of her head as he felt her arms snake around his waist. "You have nothing to worry about there. You wouldn't be insinuating anything, would you Kat?"

Another blush lit her cheeks as she looked up at him. "I might be! Just not in here."

The brunette kissed her deeply before grinning once again. "That can be arranged."

Turning the water off, he pulled back the curtain and climbed out, lifting Katarina out gently after him and exiting the bathroom.

...

Half an hour later, Duo and Kat made their way into the hangar together. The American noticed that there were several female mechanics looking rather nastily over at them. The small group moved closer to the two so that they would be intercepted on the way to Kat's office. Another brunette smirked as she decided to run her mouth off a bit.

"So, what do you think of Winner's new assistant?"

A redhead answered. "I think he's very pretty. He's just about as pretty as Maxwell."

The brunette nodded, noticing that she'd gotten Kat's attention. "I wonder if there's any way possible I could convince him to come with me tonight. I'd show him a good time."

A blonde giggled, shooting a glance to their boss. "You might get in trouble with our boss. She's a little bit of an ice queen sometimes."

Katarina had stopped walking to allow her blood to boil. Duo had stopped as well, ready to pounce on her if she decided to spring. Why were women so mean? "Do you hear what they're saying? Can you believe that? Am I really an Ice Queen?"

"Oh, I don't think I have anything to worry about. I mean, she may talk big, but I don't think she'd do anything to me. I doubt she could fight even though her brother is a Gundam pilot." The brunette snickered.

The blonde head mechanic couldn't remain quiet any longer. "Oh you don't think so huh?"

The three female mechanics turned to look at her coldly. "Hi, boss. Nice to see you back today."

"Cut the crap." Kat snarled. "If you have a problem with me, then you need to speak to me personally about it rather than behind my back." Behind her, Duo was slapping his forehead onto his hand.

"Oh there's no problem, boss." The brunette grinned cruelly. "We were just gossiping. We were trying to decide if you were fucking your assistant or fucking Maxwell. You could be fucking them both. At the same time even."

That was all the blonde needed. She turned to leave before snapping back around and punching the woman in the jaw, causing her to shriek in surprise. From then the fight ensued. The female mechanic scratched her in the face while going for her hair. Katarina growled as she pushed the woman away from her, her hair falling out of its ponytail. It took her no time at all to recover and lunge for the unruly mechanic.

By that time, a crowd had gathered around the cat fight. Men were cat calling and jeering at the two women in the center of them. Duo was about to force his way through when he was joined by Heero. The silent soldier sent him a look that didn't even need words to ask the question.

"Some of Kat's mechanics were shit-talking. They were trying to start a fight, I think." Duo answered him, pushing his way through the crowd. He swore that he caught a glimpse of Aya watching from the catwalk above by Kat's office.

The blonde dug her nails into his hands as he grabbed her around the waist to pull her off of the other woman. Katarina was snarling as she attempted to break free of Duo's grip and resume the fight. Duo promptly slung her over his shoulder and exited to her office where he deposited her on the desk and locked the door.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, not bothering to hide the surprise in his voice.

Kat stared at him as her eyes began to water and her lower lip began to tremble. "I have a right to defend my own honor!" she cried. "It's not right for them to say things like that around me!"

The brunette approached her slowly before stopping right in front of her. "You didn't have to do it like that. The poor woman had a black eye and a bloody nose. You've got scratches all over your face that are bleeding. You know Une is probably going to hear about this, right?"

She tried to stifle a sniffle, but failed. "I don't care. That bitch deserved a worse beating than the one I gave her. I'm sure Q will be up here in a few minutes to find out what's going on. I don't know what happened, Duo. I heard what she was accusing me of and it made me so angry. I know that I've never done anything like that and I guess the fact that she said it out loud just pissed me off to the point of me seeing red and hulking out."

"I know, babe. If it makes you feel better, I'll tell Une that she instigated the fight." Duo offered as he wrapped his arms around her. Kat sighed as she sniffled again and buried her face in his shirt. "Now don't do that. You had an excellent morning. You shouldn't let that ruin it. Here, I'll clean those scratches for you. Don't worry, Kat. I've got you."

No sooner had Duo started cleaning the scratches on her face when there came a loud pounding on the office door. Sighing, he unlocked to door and opened it wide to see Wufei standing there with a cross look on his face. The brunette returned a similar expression.

"Lady Une called an emergency meeting in the conference room. They intercepted a transmission from Orion containing vital information."

Duo nodded before making his way back over to the desk and helping Kat down. "Let's go, babe. This sounds really important."

Kat nodded as she took his hand and exited the office. What could be so important as to call an emergency meeting first thing in the morning?

...

As the Gundam pilots and a few select others filed into the conference room, a nervous buzz of conversation rose into the air. No one was quite sure as to what the meeting was called for or what was even going on. Quatre had taken a seat beside his sister with Duo on her other side. Aya was nowhere to be found so it had been assumed that he wasn't required. When Lady Une finally made an appearance, the volume of the voices in the room automatically increased.

"Now quiet down! If you want to know what's going on, I need silence!" she barked quickly. It was surprising how quickly her orders were complied with. "Now, since this meeting has been called immediately because of its importance, I'm willing to overlook the shameful display in the Mobile Suit hangar this morning." She said bitterly as she stared directly at Katarina.

"Now that wasn't Kat's fault-" Duo started.

"I didn't come here to talk about senseless brawling, Maxwell. You've all been called here to discuss the transmission from Orion that we managed to intercept." Une continued severely. "I've managed to have it cleaned up to were the words can be understood."

As she pressed play on the pocket recording device, practically everyone in the room was on the edge of their seats. The first thing that could be heard was static.

_"You've got your orders. Repeat them back before you notify our mole."_ That voice was undoubtedly Anubis.

_"Yes, sir. Orion's spy is to keep watch on the target until the appointed time in which an attempt on the target's life will be made."_

_ "Very good. Now tell me, who is the target?"_

_ "The target is one who is the most important to the Preventers and the Earth Sphere at this moment, sir."_

_ "It sounds like you've listened to things very well. You shall be rewarded. Pass this information on to our man on the inside. That will be all."_

When the transmission ended, Lady Une stood looking at the room's occupants with an unhappy stare. Everyone else had their eyes trained on something else, afraid to look at another person. After a few more moments of silence, their commanding officer decided to speak.

"This transmission can only mean one thing; there will be an assassination attempt in the near future. The target was not specified, but we can all take a guess."

"Cassie." Howard said in a less than happy tone.

Une nodded. "That's the conclusion I came to as well. Anubis knows that we're almost completely done with Tallgeese III, so he'll want to take out her creator should anything go wrong, there'll be no one to fix it."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Zechs asked, a bit of a temper evident in his voice. "As you can see, Cassandra isn't present at the moment."

"I can see that, Merquise." Une snapped. "Once she returns from her personal leave, she'll have to get used to the fact that there will be someone with her 24-7."

Howard frowned at this news. "Cassie's not going to like that one bit, so you're probably going to catch hell about it."

"I could care less what Cassandra likes at this moment. Her safety is at stake and I'm not about to risk it. From now on, our security is at level red. No one is to leave or enter the base without my approval. Katarina, your assistant's living quarters will be transferred onto the base, is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Katarina replied barely above a whisper. "Lady Une, will you be the one telling Cassie about these recent developments?"

Lady Une shook her head. "I thought I'd leave that up to Howard. He's closer to Cassandra than I and he might be able to talk her into accepting protection."

"Of course. Leave me with the dirty work." Howard grumbled.

"I'll help you out." Zechs offered.

"If that's all, then you're dismissed. Zechs, make sure Cassandra is all right, and report back to me if anything happens while you are both away. In the meantime, I need you Gundam pilots to stay after so I can discuss the new security changes with you."

Duo gave Kat a peck on the mouth before she walked out the door. Releasing a long-held sigh, she made her way toward the cafeteria. Surprisingly, she met Aya along the way. The redhead greeted her jovially and matched her stride. A look of concern came over him as he caught a glimpse of her face.

"Kat, how did you get that scratch? It was working on one of the Gundams was it?"

Katarina snorted. "No, that would've been ideal though. Let's just say there was a cat fight that I kicked ass in this morning. How did you miss it? I think every mechanic that works for Preventer saw it."

"I was a little late." Aya admitted sheepishly. "I caught Quatre breaking up the crowd."

"Well, you missed me kicking that bitch's ass!" Kat screeched as they continued down the corridor. "What right does she have to say that kind of bull shit anyway? They're nothing but gossip whores."

Aya blinked and then started laughing. "I don't know which is worse; imagining your fight or hearing you curse like a sailor."

"Believe me, the fight was worse."

...

End Chapter


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Zechs glanced around the dimly lit foyer of the grand estate owned by Tetsuya Camui and his family, then slowly turned as the front door opened. A young Japanese man with shoulder length dark hair, a lithe build and light almond eyes stepped into the foyer and gently closed the door behind him. He paused at the foot of the stairs and regarded Zechs for a moment before he looked up toward the second floor and sighed.

"How is she?"

"Upset and stressed," Zechs offered quietly. "The sudden exhumation has put her on edge,"

"Why?" Shoji Camui demanded as he turned and faced Zechs completely. "Why was my brother's grave exhumed by Preventer? Why?"

Zechs frowned, but offered no answer for a moment. "You need to go talk to Cassandra about that. It's not my place,"

Shoji studied him for a long moment, unsure of the interest the man standing before him had in a woman whom he loved and considered his sister. But Shoji wasn't stupid. He understood what this man's presence meant. Cassandra wouldn't bring strangers into Camui's home, even if she was ordered to, which meant this man was a friend and person whom she trusted. If Cassandra, who had inherited the house from Camui when he'd passed, allowed him to be in the house, who was he to say otherwise?

Shoji sighed and reached for the banister. "I'll see what I can do for her. Whoever you are, thank you for getting her here."

Zechs nodded as Shoji began hurriedly climbing the stairs. He frowned. Did Shoji realize how much he resembled his older brother?

...

Cassandra stood quietly in the middle of the bedroom, her brown eyes roaming dreamily over every piece of furniture and every item of clothing still sitting around. The room looked exactly the same as it had the last time she'd been in it. And if she closed her eyes, she could feel him in the room. When she opened them again, she stared over at the oversized four poster bed and imagined him there, sound asleep and dreaming.

It had taken three hours for her to get up the nerve to come into this room and now she wanted never to leave it again.

Cassie turned away and walked through the door to her left and entered the sitting room, walking toward the piano and feeling nostalgic.

Would his fingers ever grace those keys again?

Cassandra sat down behind it and rested her head on her arms. He'd promised her that he would walk off that battlefield and come home to her. For the longest time after he didn't come back, she'd been angry and bitter, thinking that he had lied and broken that promise when, in her heart, she'd never believed that. She would dream of him often. Sometimes he would be coming home to her, and sometimes he would be saying good bye, but even when she woke from those dreams, she would become bitter and angry.

Now that she knew the truth…

A shadow fell over her.

"Tetsuya…" She whispered.

"I'm sorry I got here so late. It took me a while to get myself together," The shadow shrank and was replaced by the solid figure of a man of average height. He was Japanese, handsome with naturally tanned skin, high cheek bones, slanted brown eyes and a lithe build. Shoji Camui, Tetsuya's younger brother and lead guitarist.

"Are you all right, Cassie?" Sho reached out and touched her shoulder, startled and heartbroken by the way she fell against him and cried. "Cassie…"

"I hated him, Sho. I h-hated him for leaving me. So much so that I never allowed myself to miss him. He promised he'd come back and when he didn't, I was so mad. Mad that he broke his promise and l-left me. Mad that he was gone."

Shoji closed his eyes as he hugged her against his torso and let her cry it all out.

"He was so tired when he left that night," Shoji murmured, shaking his head. "After all of the stress from the tour and those last three days…it was too much. Maybe if that hadn't been the case, if he hadn't been so worn down…"

Cassie sat back and nodded as she wiped her face off with the sleeves of her jacket.

"Do you mind if I stay here a few more days?"

Shoji stared at her for a moment before he sat down next to her and took her hand. "The last time I checked, sweetheart, this was your house. He left it and everything in it to you, so take all the time here you need," he smiled as he looked at the Preventer emblem on her jacket. "And you can take whatever you want back with you if it helps to comfort you."

"I don't know that it will, but thank you," Cassie sighed quietly, glancing over to watch Shoji's hands as he danced his fingers along the keys of the piano.

"All of the invitations to the ESUN Christmas Ball sent to you came back return to sender."

She nodded. "I know. I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be. I didn't want to go at first, either, but someone had to do it." He shrugged. "I would have asked you to be there myself, but I remember the look on your face when they came into that room and told us he was gone. I remember the grief and the anger and I know how much it hurt you because it hurt me, too. I didn't want you to have to go through that again. So I took on the responsibility myself. The guys helped, of course, and they've taken a bigger part in the whole thing since the first time we did it. I still held up hope that one day you would come and remember him with us. Will you come this year, Cassie?"

She nodded faintly and leaned against him. "I will. Besides…I'm sure you'll mention this to Relena and knowing the way she is, she'll harass me until I agree to go,"

"Good, then I have another angle to get at you," Shoji smiled at her. "How long can you stay?"

"Just a few more days. I have to get back to work soon. I just… I needed some time,"

"Can you tell me what happened, Cassie?" The way his voice lowered suddenly made her shoulders slump.

"No…"

"But it has something to do with Tetsuya?"

"Hai," She murmured, unable to meet his gaze.

"Why did they dig up his grave?" Shoji looked directly at her now. "Cassie, is there hope?"

"I'm praying,"

Shoji leaned back, surprised, and felt his heart skipping around in his chest. Was it possible that his brother was still alive after all of these years?

"Are they reinstating the P.O.W. status?"

"Sho, I can't…"

Shoji nodded hurriedly and looked back at the piano. "Then we'll pray together,"

...

The cell was dark and damp and the only sound that could be heard was his own breath as he inhaled and exhaled the air around him. Any moment now and they would come for him, ready to plug him back in and start another round of virtual torture for heaven only knew how many days this time.

With each session with the Cerberus Machine came more headaches and more exposure to the machine's radiation. Even though the radiation wasn't noticeable and not dangerous when exposed to it in small intervals, considering the amount of time he'd been exposed to it repeatedly already, he was sure it was starting to affect him. It would explain the headaches and the need for more rigorous and longer reprieves from the machine.

But Diabolos was complete, as well as Anubis' personal Gundam. His army of mobile suits was almost complete now, too. And he was planning something. Something nasty and foreboding.

Camui sat on his bunk, pulled his knees up to his chest and leaned his head back against the wall, his blue eyes filling with tears as he imagined the awful things that were to come. He would be forced to harm the very thing he'd always fought to defend.

What was worse, Anubis had plans to bring Cassandra into the mix, meaning she was in danger. A reunion. That's what Anubis had said.

Camui closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. The thundering footsteps on the other side of the cell bars was the only warning he had that it was time.

But he wasn't going to give in to Anubis without a fight. He would find a way to sabotage Anubis' plan. He would find a way to beat the Cerberus Machine. He had, after all, created it.

He could damn well destroy it.

...

"Taylor, Becket, McKay, you are fired," Cassandra announced loudly as she passed the three mechanics on the catwalk and headed with a purpose for the Tallgeese.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Check in your tools and head up to Lady Une's office to collect your papers. Until the lockdown is lifted, you'll be transferred to a holding area for now." Cassandra glanced at her clipboard and then looked up at Deathscythe looming above her. The three women just stared at her, clearly furious and surprised. "This isn't a joke. Get out of here,"

"So you think you can just waltz back in here after a week and think you can bark out orders like some Nazi dictator? I don't think so."

Cassandra blinked as she looked towards the leader of the group. "You know, you three idiots are the main reason the military doesn't like hiring female mechanics. Good thing you're all easily replaced. However, these orders come from Lady Une since you three gossip more than you work. Considering how high the stakes in this war have been raised, we can't afford to pay for labor we aren't receiving. Show yourselves out, please. I really wouldn't want you to have to be embarrassed in front of all of your co-workers."

The woman with the black eye growled nastily. "Why don't you go suck on Merquise's cock a little more and leave the rest of us alone?"

Cassandra stopped on the catwalk and saw Zechs lean over the railing of the platform at Tallgeese's shoulder. That announcement had been made loud enough that most of the hangar went silent. Oh well, that didn't really matter considering she'd been accused of worse in her lifetime and she had more important matters to deal with.

Cassandra was smiling as she turned and glanced at Zechs. "Guess we were louder than we thought," Then, without a hitch, she continued on about her business. Zechs smirked a little as he got back to work with Tallgeese.

"Cassie's back," The only response he received was a soft chuckle sound from Tallgeese.

...

Kat yawned quietly as she peeked into Howard's office and looked in on the woman sitting behind his desk, watching videos on the enormous monitor.

"What'cha doing?"

Cassie glanced up at Kat, slightly startled and shook her head. "I got a little nostalgic after working with Tallgeese today. And I got bombarded by Miss Relena earlier about this whole Christmas Ball thing. Shoji apparently got on her back about wanting me there after all."

"Shoji?" Kat walked into the office and pulled up a chair next to Cassandra to watch the concert video playing on the screen.

"Camui's brother and lead guitarist," Cassandra murmured, pointing as an image of him on stage flashed on the screen.

"Oh yeah! I'd forgotten about him after so long. I never did get to see Camui in concert," Kat pouted a little before resting her head on Cassie's shoulder and hugging her gently. "Cassie, I'm so sorry,"

She shook her head a little. "Don't be. It's Anubis who's going to be sorry once I get my hands on him. I can't believe that after all of this time, I've been mourning a man who, for seven years, has been waiting for me to find him and save him. When they found that body…Kat I gave up. I really thought it was him and I believed it even when I could still feel him."

"Don't feel bad, Cassie. We all thought and believed he was dead,"

A few tears slipped down Cassie's cheeks and Kat hugged her a little tighter. "He's still waiting for you, Cassie. And now that we all know that…we'll get him away from Anubis and bring him home,"

Cassie nodded as she leaned against her friend and quietly cried. "Should I go to the Ball?"

"They'll be wanting to see you. Besides, I hear through the grapevine that there's going to be a video this year that the group has put together that you're probably going to want to see,"

Cassandra nodded quietly. "Only if you go…"

"Hell yeah, I'm going. Free booze and food? Are you kidding?"

Cassandra smiled and laughed while they both settled down to watch the rest of the DVD.

...

Zechs turned from the railing he was leaning against when he heard light footfalls coming towards him and smiled softly at Cassandra. She gave him a timid smile in return and folded her arms over her chest. It was her shy way of telling him that she was less than ready for this little outing.

"Well? How do I look?" She asked quietly as she came to stand next to him. Zechs smiled at her as he looked her over from the black dress pants and the white blouse to the way she had her hair dressed in a thick black headband, soft curls falling against her neck. Her makeup was light, but the black eyeliner defined her brown eyes stunningly. She was simple in her elegance and it was breathtaking.

"You look beautiful,"

She blushed and it completed the ensemble.

"Are you ready, Cassie?"

"As ready as I can be," She breathed, taking the arm he offered her. She wasn't surprised by his noble mannerisms, but she hadn't seen him dressed quite so elegantly before. He looked just like a nobleman of the old age, dressed in a black suit with an off-white shirt, black dress jacket, tie and jeweled cuffs. The only thing missing were the silk gloves, but she guessed he didn't want to look too over done for the ball, despite his heritage and his place among the Peacecraft family. Of course, he also believed that having soiled his birth name eight years ago while leading the White Fang faction had taken away his right to the name. He seemed fine with it, content enough to carry on as Zechs Merquise, the elite soldier and Gundam Pilot out to save the world and keep the peace.

Cassandra was fine with that, too. He already reminded her so much of Camui, she didn't need Zechs to be exactly like him. It was hard enough on her as it was.

"You don't have to do this, Cassie,"

"Yes I do, Zechs. I owe that much to Shoji and the others. I wasn't there for them these last few years, but I have to be now. Especially now. Besides, knowing Anubis, an achievement like this, as tragic and evil as it is, won't be kept quiet long. He'll want to let the whole world know what he's done. I have to be there for them when that happens,"

"I understand," Zechs said quietly as they stepped down the stairs of the Preventer building and into the limo that was waiting for them. "We're late,"

"I doubt anyone has noticed," Cassandra cracked a small smile as she settled down next to him, then took a deep, calming breath. "I think the last ball I came to was with Camui and I was a nervous wreck."

"Why is that?"

"I'm far from nobility, Zechs. You and Camui were both born into it. You both know how to handle it. I didn't."

"How did it go?" He smiled a little, already knowing the answer.

"It turned out fine, I guess. Everyone there knew I didn't belong, but I tried not to let it bother me. Camui did his damnedest to make sure I felt welcome, too. Needless to say, once he got me out on the dance floor, everything changed in the rest of the crowd. There were no more comments, no more rude whispers. At that point, even the looks they were giving me were just curious, some surprised, even more reverent. I'll never understand it,"

"It's a more complicated lifestyle than some people seem to think. I'm glad to be out of it, honestly."

Cassandra chuckled quietly and shook her head. "That's ironic because I kind of miss it,"

"No," Zechs said softly, knowingly. "It's not that lifestyle that you miss…"

Cassandra's eyes saddened and she looked down at the black dress shoes she was wearing. "You're right. It's not,"

"Are you going to be alright, Cassie?" Zechs reached over and touched her shoulder, feeling her shudder as she took another long, deep breath.

"Yeah, I think so. If I get weepy just…knock me over the head or something,"

The smile was forced, but it did its job. Ten minutes later, the limo pulled up in front of the steps of the Sanq Kingdom grand ballroom. There was little activity outside, all the guests had already arrived and had gone inside, but the butlers and valets were still waiting patiently in front of the doors and on the steps to aid and escort stragglers.

Zechs stepped out of the limo first, straightened his jacket, then turned and offered his hand to Cassandra. She accepted and stepped out of the limo and into the cold night air, shivering a little despite herself. He offered her a reassuring smile as they were greeted by a waiting butler and led up the stairs into the main hall. A few guests were lingering here, talking quietly with one another or just stepping out for a little fresher air. The music from inside of the ballroom was filtering out into the lobby and Cassandra wasn't surprised by the typical classical strings music.

Leave it to Relena to keep the whole thing absolutely traditional.

"There's a whole lot of staff present,"

"Not surprising, considering the number of guests," Zechs said casually as one of the aforementioned staff stepped forward, followed by an undercover security guard that gave a subtle signal to Zechs that security inside was ready and waiting to keep an eye on Cassandra.

"May I take your coat, Miss?"

Cassandra glanced at the butler and hurriedly nodded, allowing him to slip the thin little thing from her shoulders and carry it off to wherever they were keeping the rest of the coats belonging to the throng of guests.

"Are you ready?" Zechs asked, taking her elbow again.

"Yes, let's go," Cassandra whispered, chewing on her bottom lip a little as they walked through the open double doors and strolled into the crowd. As they slipped through the crowd, somewhat undetected, Cassandra found herself recognizing several faces and was almost certain some had attended that same ball she had attended with Camui. Part of her wondered if they recognized her and what they might be thinking of her appearance here with Zechs. The rest of her willed those thoughts away and locked the invisible door on them.

"Fashionably late, I see," Kat said with a smile as she trotted up to them and grinned. "We were starting to think you'd changed your mind. Come on, we've got a table over here,"

Zechs and Cassie followed Quatre's sister to the table that Quatre had reserved for them and sat down with the rest of the group. Cassandra's eyes immediately scanned the rest of the tables around them for any sign of the four guys she wanted most to talk to, but saw no sign of them.

"They'll be at the head table with Relena," Zechs said softly, pouring a glass of wine. "Don't worry. They're here,"

"How are you holding up?" Quatre questioned, smiling softly. "Now that you're back at Preventer?"

"I'm ok, I guess,"

Kat and the others nodded quietly, understanding on some level what she was going through. Cassandra looked away for a moment and met a familiar face, only to cringe away from the somewhat sour look she was getting.

"You were definitely right, Zechs. It's not the lifestyle I miss at all,"

Zechs looked up at the woman directing the unhealthy look in Cassandra's direction, then rose and offered his hand. "Then let's forget we're here, shall we? Dance with me,"

"Ok," Cassandra said nervously, accepting his hand and following him out onto the dance floor.

"Let's dance, too, Duo!"

"I can't dance," Duo hissed through his teeth as Kat rose and tugged on his arm.

"I didn't ask if you _could_ dance, Duo. I said let's dance, so let's dance!"

"I suppose," Duo grumbled, glaring at the smug look on Quatre's face. Soon after they headed onto the dance floor, Quatre escorted Dorothy Catolonia onto the dance floor as well. Zechs and Cassandra made it into the crowd, faced each other and bowed a little, then stepped directly into an elegant waltz, much like the ones Camui had taught her years ago. Her steps were light, and although it had been a very long time since she'd last participated in anything like it, she performed very well.

The same could not be said of Kat and Duo, who, despite Kat's experience, were lacking the same grace and elegance. Duo kept stepping on Kat's toes and Kat wasn't really paying much attention. Her whole intention was just to keep an eye on Cassandra and make sure the woman really was doing as well as she claimed to be.

The waltz didn't last long, barely ten minutes, when the music faded out and Relena commanded everyone's attention. Zechs took the incentive to take Cassandra's arm and get her as close to the front of the crowd as was possible, for which she was quietly grateful. Relena's speech was short and to the point. All she was really doing was hosting the party and introducing the group that was going to actually start the ceremony.

Cassandra had to take another calming breath to regain her composure when Camui's younger brother, Shoji, stepped up onto the platform with the other three remaining members of Camui's band. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then gave the most beautiful tribute speech Cassandra had ever heard.

As he ended his speech and indicated that a tribute video should be played, he left the podium and walked the short distance to Cassandra. He threw his arms around her and hugged her tight as the rest of Camui's band members came forward and enveloped them both in a hug.

...

"You know, what I still can't figure out is what the hell he was thinking setting the cat on fire!"

"He didn't do it on purpose!" Cassandra insisted as she glared across the table at Juun, Camui's basist. "Besides, I seem to remember you as the one holding the match to the cat's tail. All Camui did was try to take the match from _your_ drunk ass,"

Those gathered around the table laughed, shaking their heads.

"Fine, fine, so one mystery out of a hundred solved," Juun waved his hand dismissively. "So, who's the guy on your arm tonight? At least, who's the guy that _was_ on your arm?"

"Zechs Merquise,"

"You serious?" Shoji asked, surprised. "_That's _Zechs Merquise? Damn, I knew he looked familiar when I saw him the other day. How the hell did you end up with him?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not _with_ him, Sho. He was my security escort tonight. I can't help that he knows how to dance well. Besides that, things have been pretty rough over the last few weeks and he's really helped me get through a lot of it. The least I could do was accept his invitation, though I don't know how he feels about me ditching him for you nut-balls."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Juun said loudly.

"You take offense to everything," Hiro muttered under his breath, smirking at the look Juun threw in his direction.

"I doubt your escort minds. It looks like he's a bit preoccupied at the moment anyway,"

Cassandra followed Sho's gaze to the back where Zechs seemed to be in a very heated conversation with someone. From the angle she was sitting, it looked like Relena, but she could have been wrong about that. Her eyes caught sight of another familiar face and her entire body froze, seconds before the dancers blocked her view of the man. Then they danced away and the man was gone.

"Hey? You ok?" Shoji reached out and touched her shoulder, slightly concerned. "Cassie?"

"What? Oh, sorry… I thought I saw someone I knew," Cassandra shrugged and turned back to them and the glass of wine in front of her. "So how's life been these last few years?"

"It's been ok, I guess." Juun shrugged, sitting his empty wine glass back onto the table. "You know, we were kind of thinking about going back on tour again…maybe with our own band,"

Cassandra smiled a little. "Sounds like it would be fun,"

Juun nodded. "We were kind of hoping you'd rejoin us. You always kept the staff on their toes and you're good at putting little dance routines together last minute,"

Cassandra snorted, nearly spitting out her wine all over the table. "That one routine was a fluke! I was making fun of Camui for being such a perfectionist…I didn't realize he'd actually take me seriously,"

"It worked didn't it?"

"I suppose it did," Cassandra laughed and looked back out at the crowd, pausing as that familiar face popped up again, only to vanish behind a group of dancers. "What the hell…?"

"Cassie, are you sure you're ok?"

As she searched the crowd again for that face, she thought she saw him slipping out into the main hallway and quickly headed after him, startling all who had been sitting at the table with her.

"Guess she really had to pee," Juun lifted her empty wine glass and chuckled quietly. "She never really could hold her alcohol."

Cassandra stopped in the open hallway and glanced around, confused. It was dimly lit and all of the staff seemed to have disappeared, as well as the security team she had seen around there earlier. Her heart started hammering in her chest as she moved further away from the entrance to the ballroom and stopped. He was here and he wanted her on her own.

"I have to admit, I didn't think you'd actually leave the safety of your security team to come out here after me," Anubis stepped into her line of sight and smiled at her. She just stared at him. It had been a little more than a decade since she'd last seen him but he didn't look any different than he had back then. He was tall with an average build, a stony but handsome face, dark green eyes and long layered shoulder length brown hair. For anyone who didn't know who he was, he'd easily fit in with this crowd.

"I was surprised at how easy it was to slip passed security, but considering how many times I've come to this little shindig they've gotten used to seeing me," Anubis smirked at the look that crossed over her face. "Yes, I've been planning this for years,"

"What do you want?"

"What every evil bastard in this world wants, darling. Power. I plan to rule the world and make it my own. The colonies will be easily controlled. I've got too many people on my payroll in each colony not to have control over those people. If the people on those colonies deny my rule, well, let's just say they're going to be miserable in their living conditions. I like the feeling I get when the power of mother nature is in my control. The weather systems in those tubs of floating space metal are fun to play with,"

"You're sick,"

"I know," Anubis shrugged a little, glancing around. "I like the security team you've got. They're very efficient in their work,"

That was, of course, sarcasm. Clearly something had gone wrong with the security team that was supposed to have been on her.

"Why are you here? You want to rub it in,"

"Oh I want to rub something in alright," Anubis came at her without warning and she gasped in surprise, sucking in air sharply as a short blade pierced her right side. She stared at him in wide-eyed horror, her lips parted as she tried to take in air.

"I imagine that didn't feel very pleasant. Don't die on me Cassie. I have plans for you…" He pulled her close to him as he twisted the blade then yanked it out of her. "That communication Preventer intercepted… they interpreted it wrong. It's not you I'm after." He pressed his lips to her ear and closed his eyes, smiling. "It's…Katarina Winner,"

Finally, he let her go, stepping back and laughing as he dashed off into the shadows.

"There you are!" Duo growled as he and Zechs came out into the hallway. "We've been looking every where for you! Gave the damn security team the slip!"

Zechs grabbed Duo's arm and stopped him clearly startled by something. "Cassie?"

Gasping and struggling to take a full breath, she turned to look at them, her hand pressed against the wound at her side. The white shirt was soaked in crimson and Zechs felt a wave of cold fear wash over his body at the sight of her.

"Cassie!" He leapt forward and caught her as she fell, then pressed his hands to her wound. "Damn it! Duo, get Sally!"

"It's Kat," She gasped as he applied pressure to her wound.

"What? I can't understand you!"

"K-Kat…He's going after Kat!"

"Oh, no!" Duo whipped around on his heels and raced for the ballroom doors. "Katarina!"

"Hang on, Cassie! I've got you. It's not deep, hold still!"

"You have to s-stop him. S-save Kat. Z-Zechs, s-save…K-Kat…"

As Cassandra's world faded into darkness, her last conscious memory was that of the earth shattering sound of a gun being fired, followed by shrill screams and utter chaos.

...

End Chapter.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Since Cassandra's return, things had gone a bit more smoothly since her departure. The three troublesome mechanics were now in a holding cell because of the lockdown. Katarina walked in with a rather large smile on her face. With the lockdown and all, there was no way of getting anything new to wear to this ball that was apparently going on in a few weeks.

The work load had finally evened out and things were less tense than they had been. Kat had informed Cassie about the tension between Aya and Duo, which had brought the brunette a good laugh. The redhead was good for making trouble with Duo. They'd had several run-ins in that single week alone. The blonde was getting tired of playing the middle man in this ongoing argument. When she finally made it to her office, two people were already waiting for her and neither of them liked one another, so she decided to wait and listen to the conversation that was going on.

"Alright, Fujiyama. I want to know why you've been hanging so close to Kat lately? I think you're getting a little too close." That was Duo's voice, no mistake about that.

"Say what you want." Aya answered. "You'd stay close to someone you knew would be gone soon, wouldn't you?"

She could see Duo's form stiffen. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"No, you wouldn't. Take my word for it, Maxwell. Just enjoy Katarina while you can."

Something about that last statement bothered her. Still, she said nothing as she continued to wait by the door. A quick creaking of the door, she gasped in surprise as Aya emerged from her office. The redhead's expression softened noticeably when he saw her and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Good morning, Kat. I was just getting ready to start the checklist for the day. Did you need coffee or anything?"

Kat blinked, stunned at the sudden change of demeanor. "What? Uh, oh, no thanks, Aya. Go ahead with the checklist and I'll be out in a few minutes."

Aya nodded and left as she entered her office. There stood Duo fuming still about the conversation that had just taken place. He turned his attention to the woman who'd just entered and noticed the surprised and bewildered look on her face. The brunette's features softened and he approached her. Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in her hair, which she'd yet to pull back.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"Don't apologize. I wasn't in the middle this time. I just don't want whatever this is to get in the way of your work. As long as the Gundams get finished, argue as much as you want." Kat told him.

A smirk crossed Duo's face. "You promise?"

"God, I shouldn't have said anything." Kat groaned. She gave him a quick peck on the lips before pushing away a bit. "Don't you have a test flight to get to?"

"Oh yeah!" the brunette exclaimed. "Q-man should already be down at the bay doors and prepping Sandrock."

"Isn't that where _you_ should be?" Kat asked him in a scolding manner.

"Okay, okay, I'm going."

Kat smiled as she tugged on his braid and pushed him out the door. "I need to sign these forms. In the mean time, go prep Deathscythe and I'll be down in a minute."

...

Big fancy parties always made her nervous. Quatre was always the one who was comfortable with those sort of things. Shaking her head, she applied the last bit of wine-colored gloss to her lips and ran her fingers through her loosely curled locks. Small rhinestone barrettes were clipped on either side, complimenting the silvery-white t-back shirt and knee-length black skirt. Sighing, she waited to hear the knock on her door. Aya would be escorting her to Relena's ball since Duo and the other pilots had been recruited to help watch over Relena. That made her feel a bit down.

Sure enough, there was a knock on her door. Turning off the lights in her quarters and grabbing her purse, she stepped out to meet Aya, who was there to meet her in his black Preventers dress uniform. What could she say? He looked good. He seemed to be studying her carefully. As he extended his hand and took hers, he brushed his lips against her knuckles before offering her his arm.

"You look beautiful, Kat."

"Thank you, Aya. You don't look half bad yourself." She teased. "I'm guessing we're taking a company car?"

Aya shook his head. "Nope. I'm using my personal vehicle for this."

The blonde blinked. "Wow. Now I know this isn't something you see everyday."

"Not many people get to ride in my car. You should feel privileged." He added with a smirk. "Now, come with me or we're going to be late."

There was continued silence as they made their way to the car. Aya opened the door for Katarina before getting in himself. Once they started off, a comfortable silence settled over them. Kat watched out the window as the scenery passed by, not noticing that the redhead was glancing at her from the corner of his eye. He cleared his throat, drawing her attention to him.

"So, how are things with you and Duo?" he asked meekly, which was unusual for him.

"Oh." Kat began, unsure of the turn the conversation was going to take. "They're fine. Both of us work a lot, but we make time for one another."

Aya nodded. "How did you know that you were in love with him?"

The blonde blinked at this question. "Well, we've known each other for years. Duo told me how he felt years ago when the Gundams were initially destroyed. I was scared back then so I turned him down. Once we started working together again, we got close. This time I decided that anything could happen. I could lose him forever. I knew I loved Duo when we kissed for the first time."

"I see." Aya commented, pulling into a parking space not far from the palace.

"Why are you asking me all this?" the blonde queried a bit suspiciously.

"I just wanted to hear a woman's point of view. There's a woman I know…"

"Oh!" Kat cried, figuring it out. "You're in love with this woman and you haven't told her!"

Well, she was mostly right. "How can I let her know how I feel?"

Katarina unbuckled herself and turned so that she could see him straight on. "Now, Aya, this is an important matter. There are ways you can let her know without actually telling her, especially since you don't seem the type to talk much."

"Actions, eh?" Aya unbuckled himself as well. Instead of continuing on, he leaned over and claimed her lips with his own.

Kat felt her eyes widen in surprise. Her assistant was in love with her? This was too much of a headache to think about. Pulling back, she couldn't even look at him. The blonde grabbed her purse and exited the vehicle, taking off across the parking lot at a quick pace, her slight heels clicking as she went.

...

When she'd finally entered the ball, she pretended to be fine and act like she hadn't just been kissed by another man. Quatre sent her a strange look, but she sent him a warning glance right back. She knew how angry Duo would be if he knew. She convinced him to dance once when Cassie and Zechs were out on the floor. Zechs had since disappeared; talking with his sister no doubt. Cassie was mingling with the members of Camui's band. Duo had chosen to stay with her at the table for a bit. Quatre and Trowa had started through the crowd trying to find Heero and Wufei. If there was one person who would be attacked for sure, it would be Relena and then Cassie. Duo would have to join them soon. That's when she decided that she'd sneak one more dance in.

"You liar, you can too dance." Kat pouted as Duo reluctantly rose to his feet.

"Yeah, and I stepped on your feet on purpose." The brunette replied, rolling his eyes.

The blonde grabbed his hand. "Come on. One dance won't kill you."

Duo sighed as he followed her out onto the floor and took her in his arms. "Why is it that I have a bad feeling about tonight?"

"I don't know, because you're a pessimist?" Kat said, sticking her tongue out. "You worry too much, Duo. We're at a party for once. Let's enjoy it."

The brunette nodded and no sooner had he begun to relax when Zechs came by and tapped him on the shoulder. After mentioning something about Cassie giving her bodyguard team the slip, they both walked off into the crowd. Kat sighed as she watched the two of them walk off. She was contemplating returning to the table when she heard the shot of a gun ring out. She only knew who the target was when she discovered that it was hard to breathe and her legs would no longer support her. She could've sworn that she saw a red blur in the alcove on the second floor before her surroundings went dark.

...

Just as they'd exited the ballroom for the dark alcove, Duo spotted their target with her back facing them. "There you are! Where have you been? Gave the damn security team the slip!" He was about to move forward when he felt Zechs grab his elbow.

"Cassie?"

Something was wrong. When she turned around to face them, she was holding her side, blood soaking through her shirt and fingers. Duo cursed under his breath as Zechs caught her before she fell, attempting to slow the blood flow. She was trying to talk.

"It's Kat…K-Kat. He's…going after…K-Kat."

That was all the brunette needed to hear as he spun around. "Oh, no! Katarina!"

He pushed through the crowd, making little progress until he heard the shot ring out. Shrill screams filled the air as the guests attempted to exit the palace. When he finally saw Kat, he saw her from a distance. A vermillion rose blossomed through her shirt as her blank eyes were staring at something above her. Duo felt his blood run cold as he made his way to her, not caring who he ran into. When he finally reached her, the blonde was crumpled on the ground, the bloody blossom spreading over her body. He fought to control his emotions as he pulled her into his arms. Her glassy eyes stared up at him for a moment before they finally slid closed. They looked so _dead_. He shook his head. He wouldn't allow himself to think that way.

Unsurprisingly, Heero was the first one to reach him. The Perfect Soldier crouched down to examine the head mechanic before looking to Duo. "What happened?"

"Damn it, Heero. They were targeting her from the beginning. Jesus, find Fujiyama!" he barked, fighting the burning sensation in his eyes.

Heero pulled his pistol from some unknown hiding place and pushed through the crowd toward the second story landing. Quatre was the next to arrive. The quiet Arabian knelt down next to him and brushed the hair from his sister's face with a shaky hand. "The ambulance is on its way, Duo."

"What's the point?" the brunette cried. "Katarina's…dead."

An angry look crossed the blonde's face as he gazed at his friend. "Then my sister is on the same level as the Highlander, because she _is_ alive."

...

After getting the disassembled sniper rifle into the palace at Sanq, the only complication had been to hide it until the exact time of its intended use. Luckily, he'd been able to conceal the various pieces of the weapon on his person. It was a wonder Katarina hadn't noticed when she'd been so close. It wouldn't do to have his target suspicious.

Quietly reassembling the weapon, Aya had never taken his eyes off the target. There stood Katarina in all of her slight-framed, mechanical genius glory. An unidentifiable pain in his chest built. He assumed that it was his guilt. He'd built up this woman's trust only to end her life after the false threat on Cassandra. Maybe it was something else. After all, he'd recalled his confession to the blonde in his car. He could recall the conversation with Duo Maxwell. He'd subconsciously tried to warn him that Katarina had been the intended target. Maxwell was smart, but not that smart. The brunette was intelligent enough to know that Aya posed a threat to his status with Kat and so he popped in whenever he could.

Aya quietly balanced the reassembled rifle on the banister of the second floor landing. Looking through the scope, he focused on Katarina. She was too close to Duo to get a clear shot yet. Moving the rifle slightly, he spotted Heero Yuy standing on the platform next to Relena Peacecraft. He was surprised that the Perfect Soldier hadn't caught onto him. Sure enough, Heero was glancing around him, scanning the crowd, for anyone or anything that might pose a threat.

As the music continued on, Aya quickly moved the rifle back to his target. Zechs called Duo away, which was a God-send for him. Anubis must have already had his chat with Cassandra. He would only have a moment or two to take her down. When her chest was aligned exactly with the crosshairs, a sudden reluctance hit him. Aya, shaking his head, moved the crosshairs several millimeters to the right; just to the right of her heart. The shot would no longer be lethal; critical but not lethal.

Aya felt the kick-back as he squeezed the trigger and the bullet left the chamber. He watched as Katarina stood stock still in shock. Her beautiful face was etched with the throws of a mortal wound and he could've sworn that she looked up at him. The screams of the patrons filled the ballroom as the redhead lingered a moment or two longer. He already saw Yuy moving through the masses. Any longer and he'd be caught. He quickly glanced back at Kat, who was now on the floor in Duo's arms.

"I'm sorry, Katarina." He whispered, speaking calmly toward the exit. "I broke my promise."

...

The ambulance ride to the hospital lasted an eternity. Quatre sat nervously in the waiting room as Duo paced the floor. The ER team had just taken Katarina back into surgery and they'd be out in about twenty minutes to tell them what was wrong exactly. Orion had let them hear that transmission on purpose so that they'd jump to conclusions. The true target would be left unguarded. Their plan was perfect to a fault.

Quatre watched his brunette friend as he would make it to the end of the row of chairs and then turn around to come back. He hadn't shed a tear throughout the whole ordeal though he may have wanted to. By the glassy coating over his eyes, he wanted to. Trowa and Wufei had joined them at the hospital a few moments ago. Heero was still conducting his search for the shooter. There was no telling what that would turn up.

The automatic glass doors slid open, causing all four men to stop whatever it was that they were doing and look at the person who'd entered the emergency room. A familiar face in a pencil skirt and a suit jacket walked in with a briefcase. She swore under her breath when she saw the four Gundam pilots sitting around like children waiting for news.

"So I suppose I heard right. Katarina was shot."

The pilot of Sandrock nodded his head. "She was their target all along."

"Well, Orion accomplished what they set out to do. Without the head mechanic, production will be slowed severely." She mused.

"Remember this is my sister you're talking about, Lady Une." Quatre said in a cross manner.

"I don't know, Q-man." Duo said in a bitter voice. "Sounds like she's talking about an expensive piece of equipment."

"Now, Maxwell—"

Une's rebuttal was interrupted by the swinging of the interior doors as one of the head nurses emerged. All of the room's occupants were silent. The woman glanced at them before reading off of her clipboard so that she could relay the information to them.

"Miss Winner has finally been taken back to surgery. After x-rays and an EEG, the only damage we've found is that the bullet grazed her right lung, causing it to flood as well as some deep tissue bruising. The doctor is in the process of closing the leak and draining the blood."

Quatre rose to his feet, taking a deep breath. "Is there any way to tell how long the surgery will take?"

The woman shook her head. "Not exactly. The entry point was fairly close to the heart, but won't cause any arterial damage. There may be some permanent scarring and skin discoloration, however."

The blonde nodded as the nurse gave them a watery smile before returning the way she'd come. The five of them remained silent as an inaudible sigh of relief was released. It was then that Heero joined them not even a moment later. Duo looked to him with a hopeful expression to see what he'd discovered, if anything. The Perfect Soldier averted his eyes before speaking.

"There was nothing there but an abandoned sniper rifle. The extra casings had been taken and the shooter was already gone. I turned it over to the Preventers, but it'll take at least twelve hours for the print samples to come back. His trail will be cold by then."

"Damn!" Duo cursed loudly, causing several other patients in the waiting area to look at him. "So there's no way to catch the bastard. Damn it!"

"We can't worry about that now, Maxwell." Wufei spoke up. "What we have to worry about is getting the woman back on her feet and getting the Gundams finished. There could be an all out attack at any time now. Even if it's going to take Winner's sister a while to get back on her feet, we know enough about our own machines to get them finished."

Trowa nodded carefully. "He's right. We need to be prepared should there be an attack by Orion. Anubis got what he wanted. He's not going to hesitate to start his war."

"So that's it then?" Duo asked, anger evident in his voice. "We push Kat's recovery or we continue without her?"

"02, we don't have a choice." Lady Une verified. "If we're caught unprepared, then it could be the end of everything as we know it."

Quatre placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, understanding his feelings but saying nothing. The brunette fought a snarl as he and the others sat back to wait for word from the doctor about Katarina's progress through the surgery.

...

The clock was creeping up on one as the party continued to sit in the waiting room. Quatre held his head in his hands. Looking around the room, he could see what the others were doing. Trowa was still leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. Wufei was on his cell phone yet again, relaying information to Sally. Duo was slumped back in his chair, fast asleep. The blonde knew that Zechs was elsewhere in the hospital with Cassandra. A knife wound wasn't too hard to treat. Depending on the severity of the injury, she could've been released to the base already.

His attention was drawn by the swinging of the doors once again as the doctor finally emerged. Sighing, he removed his face mask. "Mr. Quatre Winner? Your sister is out of the danger zone. We patched the hole in her right lung and drained the blood from it. The procedure took so long because we had to be extra careful that the bullet was removed in one piece. If it had shattered, it may have cut into the main arteries."

"Will she be alright, doctor?" Quatre asked, the question coming on baited breath.

"She'll be fine physically. She might be shaken up for a while afterward, though. There will be some scarring on her chest and possibly some slight discoloration. There was a lot of trauma in that area. A miss that close could only have been one of two things; something that the shooter didn't count on or it was a deliberate miss."

Quatre nodded as he was joined by Trowa. "If the shooter screwed up on purpose, then Anubis isn't going to be pleased. That shot was supposed to be deadly and it wasn't. That guy is in trouble."

The doctor glanced down at his charts. "Miss Winner is still sleeping if you'd like to go in and see her. I'd ask your friend, but seeing as he's enjoying his rest, I'll let you go on into the recovery room. She'll be moved in about an hour."

Nodding, the blonde headed through the doors quickly. He was going to make sure that his sister was okay. Technically that should've been Duo's job, but since this was his baby sister he was talking about, he'd make sure she was fine instead. Today was the day that things would start changing. The wheel had begun to turn and there was no stopping it now. Every action that happened hence forth were just gears in the cog and Anubis knew that.

...

End Chapter


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_"The entire place is on lockdown. They're not letting anyone out of here because of what's going on," Shoji walked toward the center of the spacious room and knelt down beside Cassandra who was sitting back on her legs on the floor, Camui's head cradled in her lap while two members of the staff team draped cold rags over him. "They're not giving out very many details…"_

_ Cassandra nodded, frowning. "He was afraid this might happen, you know,"_

_ Shoji blinked, looking up at his future sister-in-law in confusion. "Who? What?"_

_ "Tetsuya…He was afraid that something would go down tonight…the one year anniversary of the war with White Fang. Low and behold we're all on lockdown with fifty thousand fans. You can't possibly believe that this is just a drill." Cassandra looked down as a small grunt escaped Camui's lips, signaling that he was coming out of it._

_ "Kuso," He cursed as he pushed his shaky, tired body upright. "Again?"_

_ Cassie nodded, helping him sit up. "You're surprised? You haven't slept at all in the last three days. Perfectionist much?"_

_ "The concert was beautiful, wasn't it?" Camui asked dreamily as he fell back against her chest and sighed quietly._

_ "Had all of the fans crying," Cassandra said proudly as she wrapped her arms around his naked shoulders and squeezed gently. "I can't wait to go home and sleep for the next week,"_

_ Everyone around them nodded in agreement before an image on the television screen on the far side of the room had Juun yelping for their attention._

_ "What the hell are you flapping around about?" Camui groaned as Cassandra and Shoji helped him back onto his feet. His body still trembled, but for the moment, curiosity outweighed his exhaustion. He'd had a bad feeling for the last week as Christmas had been approaching and now, here it was, Christmas Eve and he'd just finished what he believed had been the best performance he, his band and all of his staff and dancers had ever put on before in his thirteen year career. He'd barely been able to enjoy the afterglow of the entire night and now worried that there would be no time for celebration at all._

_ Was the peace to end tonight?_

_ "That little girl is about to make an announcement," Juun murmured nervously. "I don't like this,"_

_ "Urosai," Camui said harshly as Juun sputtered off into a nervous blabber just as the image of Mariemeia's young, child face appeared on the screen._

_ "We at colony L3X18999 hereby wish to declare our Independence from the Earth Sphere Unified Nation, and at the same time, declare war against the nation. My name is Mariemeia Kushrinada. I am the daughter of Treize Kushrinada,"_

_ "What did she say?!" Tetsuya wailed as Cassandra's body tensed._

_ "That's not possible!"_

_ "War…" Shoji whispered, hardly daring to believe it. "That little girl declared all out war on us?"_

_ Cassandra nodded slowly as she looked toward Camui, and bit her lip. She'd seen that look on his face before and recognized it too well._

_ "Camui," He turned on his heel and brushed passed her, heading straight for his private dressing room. "Camui! What are you doing? Where are you going?"_

_ "Preventer has but a handful of mobile suits to defend the Earth Sphere," He growled as she followed him. "That won't be enough. I'm going to help."_

_ Cassandra stopped in the doorway, watching him strip what was left of his concert attire only to change into more comfortable clothing. As she watched him, her heart began to pound wildly in her chest._

_ "The mobile suit we built hasn't been tested yet, Camui," She whispered, leaning against the doorway. "You haven't slept in days, you can't do this. Let Preventer and the Gundam pilots-" _

_ "The Gundam pilots aren't a damn bit of good without their Gundams. I know they were sent into the sun. Whether they can be saved in time to help in this war, I don't know, but I can't very well stand around and wait to see," _

_ "You're only one man, Tetsuya. What difference could you possibly make against an army like that?"_

_ "I'm a soldier, Cassandra! I fight and I protect what I love. Everything that I love," He glared at her, his sharp blue eyes clear as crystal. "I may be one person, but I'll be one more person to protect this place."_

_ "But-"_

_ "I HAVE TO FIGHT!"_

_ "WHY!?" Cassandra screamed back, startled by the whole ordeal. The look on his face as he stared at her… she couldn't tell if it was fury at her stubborn outburst or his exhaustion mingled with fear. Either way, he wasn't going to answer her._

_ Finally, after a long, tense silence, Camui walked towards her and closed the door, effectively shutting her out of the room and ending the conversation._

_ "Cassie-"_

_ "Don't touch me!" She growled, shoving Shoji's hand from her shoulder as she turned on her heel and fled the room. For ten minutes she cried out in the hallway, her face pressed into her hands against the cold stone wall when his strong arms wrapped around her again._

_ "I have to do this, Cassie,"_

_ She sniffled a little, trying to catch her breath. "But why?"_

_ "I can't just sit around and watch. I'm a fighter not an observer. Cassandra, I've been a soldier all of my life. It's a force of habit now," He leaned in close to her, kissing her hair and pulling her back against his chest. "I have to do this, Cassie,"_

_ "Just go!" She growled, pulling away from him. "Just go then…"_

_ Camui frowned as he released her and took a step back, nodding faintly. "Stay here. It's safer here." He moved away a few steps to head down the hallway and stopped, looking over his shoulder at her. "Cassandra… aishiteru,"_

_ She whimpered and choked on a sob, turning to watch him head down that hallway. "Tetsuya… Tetsuya!"_

_ He stopped and turned, catching her in his arms as she came to him. She clung to him as if her life depended on it and buried her face into his neck. "Please…Please, promise me you'll come back! Promise you'll stay safe…"_

_ "I promise," He whispered, closing his eyes and squeezing her tight. "I promise."_

...

"Ugh…" Cassandra's brown eyes slowly opened to obnoxious white light and an annoying blipping noise. It took her a moment to register the fact that she was in sickbay and that blipping noise was the heart monitor she was hooked to.

"Welcome back," Sally's voice sounded strained, but greatly relieved. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus," Cassandra said hoarsely, grunting as she tried to sit up.

"Take it easy!" Sally urged, reaching out and helping her gently. "Try not to tear your stitches,"

"Damn it," Cassandra snarled as Sally lifted her shirt to double check on the stitches and the bandages covering the wound. "Stupid son of a bitch! I knew better. God damn it, I knew better!"

"It's all right, Cassie," Sally murmured, squeezing her arm. "Don't beat yourself up about it. None of us expected them to make their move so publicly."

"You clearly don't know Anubis," Cassandra muttered, sighing quietly. "I should have seen this coming. He said to expect them soon. Oh! Kat? Where's Kat?!"

"She's at the hospital…!" Sally said quickly. "She's okay! Quatre called an hour ago and said that she came out of the surgery just fine. The bullet missed her heart and all of the major arteries around it. They got the bullet out and she's okay. They're going to move her here in a couple of hours at which point I'll be taking over her care."

"Where's everyone else?"

"Duo and Quatre are with Kat and the others came back a few minutes ago. Lady Une is going to hold a briefing in a few minutes, so get some sleep and I'll be back to check on you in a little while,"

...

"Get some sleep and I'll be back to check on you in a little while? She had to be kidding," Cassandra muttered to herself as she limped down the hallway and paused just outside of the conference room door. A heated argument seemed to be taking place and, of course, the ringleader of the whole thing seemed to be Wufei.

"We are out of time now! Anubis has hit two birds with one stone at this point and there's no reason for him to wait any longer. His path has been cleared to attack!"

"Then what do you suggest we do, Wufei? We have three out of five Gundams complete, plus the Tallgeese, but we've barely run enough test flights to properly prepare ourselves! And without Heavy Arms and Wing Zero completed, we don't stand a chance!" Noin protested, much to Wufei's disapproval.

"We have a dozen Taurus suits and the remaining suits from the Mariemeia war that weren't damaged in the battle. We have enough pilots to put up a defensive should they attack," Zechs offered, frowning. "At the very least, it will cover us long enough to move the Gundams to the lunar base until they can be completed."

"Oh, yes, let's take them to the lunar base where we have even less of a chance at survival!" Wufei shot back. "You're just full of grand ideas, aren't you? You know, I used to respect your instincts, but I've noticed they've dwindled lately!"

"Wufei!" Sally whined, reaching out and punching him in the arm.

Zechs pushed his chair back and glared over at Lady Une. "When you want to discuss a relevant strategy in defending this base and this planet, let me know." Then turned and left the room, slamming the door hard behind him and cursing quietly. When he turned to leave, his entire body tensed. "Cassandra…how long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," She muttered, shaking her head and turning away. "He's right you know,"

"No he isn't," Zechs snapped, taking her arm and tugging her down the hallway. She walked with him quietly, not really sure where they were going and not really caring at that point. Before she knew it, they were in front of the door to his suite and were walking into the dimly lit room without hesitation. It was startlingly clean inside and didn't look as if Zechs had ever slept in the room before.

"You've been utilizing the couch in Howard's office, haven't you?" Cassandra glanced at the bed and the sheets that looked crisp and pressed and absolutely untouched. "You know, beds are more comfort-"

At first, they both sank into the kiss blissfully and for a few minutes, they let the rest of the world slip away, but then they both pulled away from it at the same time, leaning against each other, their hands clasped and their eyes closed.

"Zechs…"

"I know," He whispered, breathing deeply while his shoulders slumped. "Cassie, I love you,"

She whimpered a little and pulled away from him. "Why?"

Zechs smiled a little as she eased herself down onto his bed and tried to stretch her side a little. "What do you mean why?"

When Cassandra merely looked at him, he frowned.

"Cassie, I meant what I said just now. I had to say it because that's how I feel. I know how you feel about Camui and I also know I'll never be able to live up to him, and I don't want to. I don't want to be his replacement. I have no desire to do that. Your heart is with him and it always will be. I admit to being a little disappointed that there will never be anything more than friendship between us,"

"Give or take a few instances of benefits," Cassandra muttered, frowning. "Zechs, none of what's happened between us was-"

"I know," Zechs touched her shoulder and smiled a little. "You weren't using me. You needed someone and I was there and I've been there ever since. I'm not going anywhere and I don't take offense to what's gone on. I'd do the same thing if the roles were reversed and I had believed you were dead…only to find out that you were alive."

Cassie smiled a little and leaned against him, her eyelids heavy. "Thank you for understanding, Zechs. Thank you for everything,"

Zechs glanced at her for a moment and wrapped his arms around her. "You're getting delirious. I need to get you back to sickbay before Sally finds out that you slipped off." He stood up and pulled her to her feet, then swept her up into his arms. "Got to sleep, Cassie. You need the rest,"

...

"We're going to have to keep a close eye on her," Howard murmured from his place next to Zechs outside of Cassandra's room in sickbay. "I know Cassie, and I know how Anubis works. He's going to manipulate her at this point and I'm afraid she's going to take the bait and try to go after Tetsuya."

"I'm not letting her out of my sight," Zechs said quietly, sighing. "Any word about Katarina?"

"Quatre just got back with the transport. Katarina's been settled in and Duo's with her now. I'm worried about that boy, Zechs. He hasn't moved two inches from Katarina's side since this morning,"

"He probably wont until she wakes up, and even then I doubt it will be any more than four inches," Zechs shrugged a little. "The woman he loves more then anything was shot last night, Howard. I would be glued to her bedside, too, if it were me,"

"If it were you?" Howard glanced between Zechs and Cassandra's room and smiled a little. "I'd say you're in the same situation,"

"Doesn't work if the feelings aren't mutual," Zechs shrugged a little. "Her heart belongs to Camui, end of story. I just want to see her happy and right now that means bringing Camui home to her."

Howard nodded. "In that case, keep her close. At this point in the game, Anubis is liable to do anything,"

"Heero picked through every minute of the security tapes and finally found Anubis,"

"I didn't think it would be too hard. What would have been the point of hiding his face anymore?"

"He wasn't sure at first, so he confirmed it with Cassie before he reported to Une. We all know Anubis is just an alias,"

"Yes," Howard confirmed. "One of many. Before all of this craziness, he was known by his birth name, David Tans. Kid genius with a lot of potential. He's only about a year or so older than Une. I'm not sure what happened, Zechs. One day, he just left. We didn't hear from him again until 195 when Operation Meteor sent Duo to my front doorstep with his Gundam. At that point, he'd begun calling himself Anubis. The only reason he'd bothered contacting me was because he knew I'd managed to salvage what was left of the Tallgeese and I had started to repair her. When he found out that Cassie wasn't having anything to do with it, he threatened to steal her. We've done everything possible since that day to make sure he didn't get her,"

"I understand now why Camui and Cassandra's names were never put on record for having designed the Tallgeese. OZ never commissioned the construction of the Tallgeese. You and the five scientists all did that on your own,"

"Yes, but OZ eventually got wind of it. After Heero Yuy's assassination, the five of them vanished and began constructing the Wing Zero. That left the Tallgeese to me, Cassandra and Camui. Of course, after Camui was called back to OZ, he sent her and the mobile suit to Wufei's colony. Meiran, Wufei's wife, was to be her new pilot. You know the story from there,"

Zechs nodded faintly. "Treize had mentioned something about a prototype Leo suit that you all had been working on. He told me that after Heero Yuy's assassination, the suit went missing and was later encountered when he and his troops attacked the L3 colony belonging to the Long Family. At the time, I didn't realize it was the Tallgeese,"

"But you knew the second we met," Howard smirked a little. "When you first saw the Tallgeese, you knew what she was and where she'd come from."

"It wasn't hard to determine, considering her design."

"Not much gets passed you, Zechs," Howard chuckled. Silence fell between them for a few long moments before Zechs broke it again.

"I spoke to Relena this morning. Heero showed her the security tapes. Apparently, Anubis also goes by the name of Liam Uesugi. Supposedly a foreign diplomat from Japan. He's come to every single one of the Sanq Kingdom 197 Anniversary Balls since they first started."

"In other words, he's been planning this whole shindig for years,"

"Yes," Zechs folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes for a moment. "We have to be very careful at this point, Howard."

"Your idea for the lunar base, it's the best we've been able to come up with. That base is better equipped to house the mobile suits, and it has better defenses. Our cruisers are also stationed there, though Une has ordered two of them Earth bound, just in case,"

"Are we getting any cooperation from the colonies?"

"Several, thanks to Relena," Howard nodded a little. "We've gotten the word out as subtle as possible for the people to be prepared. We also have a ton of pilots from the Mariemeia war in the reserves, all ready and willing to keep the peace."

"Good," Zechs lowered his arms and moved for the door. "We may need them,"

...

Two weeks later…

"You have no idea how grateful I am to you," Lady Une said quietly as she walked up next to Cassandra and stared up at the Wing Zero and Heavy Arms Gundams, just in from their first test flights. "We barely gave you enough time to heal from your injuries and you've done all of this,"

"I owed that much to Kat," Cassandra murmured, shaking her head while her hand slid down to her aching side. "And we didn't have time to wait for her to get back up to speed. I expect Orion to show up any day now,"

"You really think Anubis would attack this soon?"

Cassandra stopped on the catwalk and nodded. "Yeah, I do. Honestly, I expected him to attack right after the ball. Why he's waited this long…" She shook her head, sighing. "He wants us to put up a decent fight so it's worth it to him. Without the Wing Zero, what challenge is there for his Diabolos Gundam to face? He's not concerned with the Tallgeese, though that will most likely be one of his first targets,"

Lady Une nodded, frowning. "We've split up most of our Mobile suits. The Gundams and one hundred of the surviving Serpent mobile suits from the Mariemeia war are here, the other hundred suits at our disposal are stationed on the lunar base. We've also managed to get our hands on some new mobile dolls that were delivered to us this morning,"

"What?" Cassandra stared at the smile on Lady Une's face. "How many?"

"Fifty, with the promise of fifty more being delivered to the lunar base. It's good to know the five good doctors are still on our side,"

Now it was Cassandra's turn to smile. "Yeah, that is good to know. Any word on how many mobile suits Anubis may have at his disposal?"

"No, none. We haven't managed to get any new intel since we found out about the Cerberus device,"

Cassie nodded, sighing heavily. "This is going to get nasty. The good thing is that Anubis, in all his insane genius, is reckless. He'll fuck up somewhere and that's where his plan will fail,"

...

"I'm ready for a test run!" Anubis sang merrily as he danced into the lab and grinned as Camui was forced into the chair and restrained. "Now, now, why are you suddenly being so lenient? You usually put up one hell of a fight every time we plug you back in. Are you too tired to fight back now?"

Camui's blue eyes watched Anubis carefully, but his face was carefully neutral as at last he responded, "I will fight you until my last dying breath, if for nothing more than to see your plan fail,"

At this, Anubis' usually insanely cheerful manor slipped and a nasty look overcame his face. "Well? What are you waiting for? Plug him in! It's time Preventer was shown the meaning of war,"

Camui's lips twitched, pulling up into a soft smile as he was plugged in. Anubis wouldn't be allowed to win this war, no matter what weapons he had at his disposal. Camui would do his damnedest to make sure of that, and that included turning the Diabolos Gundam against him.

...

Cassandra glanced over at Zechs and bit down on her lip to keep from laughing.

"What?" He grumbled, pulling his Preventer jacket a little closer to his face.

"Oh, nothing. Just didn't think a little horror flick would scare the famous Lightning Count into hiding behind his jacket,"

"Shut up!" He growled, nudging her gently away from him. "I'm not scared, but that's just…ah, damnit! The dog…"

Cassandra giggled as she looked back at the TV, watching "The Unborn" in all of it's creepy, horror movie glory. "This is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've seen before,"

"You didn't live in the Sanq Kingdom for most of your childhood. That palace was big enough and dark enough in some places that it would scare the crap out of a kid,"

"You've seen more battles than most men I know and you're scared of a little old Dybbuk dog?"

Zechs rolled his eyes at her before relaxing back on his bed again, just waiting for the next opportunity Cassandra would take to startle him. The main character in the movie was just inching her way into a dark, creepy looking room like an idiot, when Zechs started to prepare himself for the next horrific image. Just as the scene unfolded, the entire building exploded into action.

"What the hell?" Cassandra jumped at the sound of the emergency sirens.

"Go! Go! Go!" Zechs commanded as he leapt up and pulled her with him, grabbing her jacket and their guns. "I've got to get you to the transport cruiser!"

Everything had happened so quickly that Cassandra completely lost track of time and everything going on around her until they were racing down the hallway to the transport building. Most everyone had already made it there, but an explosion outside of the building completely destroyed the catwalk. Zechs reached out and yanked her backwards and growled into his radio.

"Get that transport out of here! I can't get Cassie through. I'll get her out in the Tallgeese! Get going!" He grabbed her arm and made a beeline for the stairs down to the main hangar, unwilling to risk the use of the elevator when it was very clear that Orion had arrived.

Once they reached the hangar, chaos was the best way to describe the scene.

"Hurry!" Quatre shouted as he suited up and climbed into Sandrock. "They've made it past our point two defenses. Most of the fight is going on in space. We're trying to make way for the cruisers to get through!"

"Where's Howard?" Cassie demanded as they raced passed Noin who was loading into her Taurus mobile suit.

"He's already on his way to the lunar base! They cleared the atmosphere thanks to those new mobile dolls."

"We'll rendezvous at the lunar base! Tallgeese, get ready!" Zechs grabbed Cassandra around the waist, grabbed the boarding cable and zipped them both up to her cockpit. Once he was strapped in and ready, he reached out and pulled her into his lap, sealed the door and sent them straight out into the fray. "Hang on to me! This isn't going to be easy,"

"Okay," Cassandra whispered, grasping onto the sides of the pilot's chair and resting back against his chest. Seconds later, the chaos outside erupted into view. The initial surge of g-forces as Zechs sent Tallgeese out of the hangar and into the air almost overwhelmed her. She gasped in surprise and closed her eyes, willing the nausea away as best as she could. Zechs hardly spared her a moment's glance or concern though. He had to concentrate on getting them both out of the line of fire, and that was proving difficult.

"They're everywhere!" He heard Quatre over the com system, followed by Heero's calm, neutral voice telling him to break through the main line and keep them off of the cruisers. After that, Cassandra was able to open her eyes and watch it all unfold.

The mobile suits that Orion commanded were very similar to the Serpent mobile suits that Dakim Barton had commissioned for the Mariemeia war, only they seemed to be a little more equipped than the first models.

"Fifty bucks says those are mobile dolls," Duo's voice rang over the radio.

"He's right!" Wufei confirmed as he swooped by in his Altron gundam and slashed through several suits blocking their path. "These troops are all unmanned!"

"This is just the first wave," Zechs growled, turning his attention skyward. "Cassie, hang on!" He thrust Tallgeese into the air at full power, throwing Cassandra backwards, hard, into his chest. They took out a dozen of the mobile dolls as they broke through the atmosphere and entered Earth's orbit. At that point, things only escalated.

"You all right?" Zechs questioned as he powered Tallgeese through space and headed towards the lunar base. He'd have to break through the main line, but they had to make way for the cruisers.

"Yeah!" Cassandra wailed as Zechs and Tallgeese tore through a few of the remaining mobile dolls.

"Zechs, ahead of us!" Tallgeese announced urgently. "Two Gundams!"

"Those are not ours," Cassandra sat forward as Zechs looked for any way around them. "Diabolos…Camui…"

Zechs growled low in the throat. "Looks like Anubis wants to show it off. Meaning he's in the other Gundam,"

"Zechs, look out!"

He barely had time to maneuver out of the way before three of Orion's mobile suits were on him. "Hang on tight, Cassie, this is going to get bumpy! Heero, I've got Diabolos and Anubis' Gundam on screen!"

"I see them!" Heero responded back, an unusual bite to his voice. "Do NOT engage! Our primary objective right now is to get those cruisers through to the lunar base. Once that is achieved, take out as many of those mobile suits as you can, but do NOT engage the Diabolos or Anubis' gundam. We're not ready,"

"Roger that!" Was the collective response from every mobile suit and Gundam Preventer had.

Blasts from behind sent Tallgeese into action and Cassandra had never experienced anything quite like it. Quatre had once described piloting a mobile suit as something like a rickety old rollercoaster flying over endless bunny hops and drops, but Cassandra didn't quite agree. She _enjoyed_ roller coasters.

Since she wasn't strapped in and was instead clinging to the pilot and his chair as if her life depended on it, she saw the experience as more of herself being a piece of dice being scrambled around in a cup. This was crazy!

Not to mention the force of the movement from Zechs' crazy maneuvers was rocketing her stomach nastily. She shouldn't have eaten so much at dinner…

And then, out of the blue, it happened.

"Damn! He's fast…" Zechs cursed as he swung Tallgeese around to avoid the direct attack from Diabolos' scythe gun. "What the hell is that thing?"

Cassandra growled quietly, staring into the sharp blue eye lights of the gundam attacking them and feeling absolutely hateful towards Anubis.

"Watch out!"

"I've got it!" Zechs countered the oncoming attack and sent Tallgeese into a downward free fall to avoid the suit all together. "Heero, I've got that damned suit on my ass! I could use some help!"

"On my way!"

A direct hit from the back of Tallgeese had Cassandra bracing her feet on the front panel to keep her from flying through the screen. Electricity flared up from the control panel and Zechs let out a nasty growl of defiance. "Now I'm just getting angry!"

As Zechs whipped Tallgeese around to engage in combat with the Diabolos gundam, Tallgeese started spurting out scenarios and suggestions on which one to take. Zechs let his instincts pick the right one and he thrust the suit forward towards Diabolos. The fight from that point was almost graceful. The suits danced toward and away from each other, avoiding attacks while commencing their own. Zechs handled Tallgeese effortlessly, and Cassandra found herself very impressed. He was holding his own against Diabolos.

"Zechs, the suit is powering its main weapon. You must retreat. A direct hit from his beam canon will be the end,"

Zechs seemed to agree with that and was about to send them backwards into a retreat, when another alarm went off and Tallgeese was slammed by another mobile suit.

"Shit! Heero! Get your ass over here!"

"Zechs, he's aiming!" Cassandra wailed, her heart thundering wildly in her chest. A second later, Anubis' face appeared on their screen.

"How do you like my Gundam so far? Fascinating and beautiful, isn't it?"

Cassandra and Zechs were quiet, their eyes glued to the image of Diabolos' beam canon gathering energy and preparing to fire.

"It's sad, Cassandra. I was hoping you would get to see Camui again, but I like this ending better. Diabolos, take out the Tallgeese," And then his image vanished from their screen to a more frightening scene.

"Zechs…"

He growled quietly. "Hang on, Cassie…"

"This is not happening…" She breathed. "This is not happening!"

"Heero, where the hell are you?"

"Diabolos' main weapon is firing!"

"HANG ON!"

"No! No, Camui, STOP!" Cassandra screamed into the com system, wrenching her eyes closed and bracing for whatever was to come. Silence befell them for a moment and then, finally…

"Diabolos' main weapon has powered down." Tallgeese exclaimed. At that moment, the radio chatter went wild.

"Camui…" Cassandra breathed as Tallgeese was dislodged from the mobile suit rammed into her backside and Wing Zero destroyed those around them. She watched, amazed, as Diabolos retreated with the rest of Anubis' troops.

"That was…what the hell was that?" Zechs asked, resting his head on her shoulder in relief.

"Camui…" She whispered, relaxing back against Zechs and breathing a great sigh of relief herself. "He's still in there somewhere. He still has some control…"

"This is good," Zechs murmured. "It means we still have a chance. Heero, what the hell took you so long?"

"We were slammed by mobile dolls just after you radioed for help. They wanted you cut off. They're retreating now,"

"Let's get to base," Zechs muttered. "We need to regroup and assess the damage. I have a feeling it won't take him long to regroup and come back after us."

Cassandra nodded as Zechs navigated Tallgeese quickly towards the lunar base. She was in a daze, completely flabbergasted and in awe. Even after all of this time, he was still able to control the Cerberus machine. He'd reacted to her voice and her screaming plea had broken through. It was the only thing that had saved them.

He was still in there somewhere. She had to get to him. Somehow, she had to get to him.

...

End Chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Upon returning to the Orion headquarters, he'd been apprehended immediately. The two soldiers that had placed his wrists in binders were now escorting him to the cell block. He knew that much. When they pushed him roughly into the cell he turned around to see that Anubis had joined him in his new home. The man stood level with his height, anger apparent on his face. The redhead kept a blank expression as he stared back at him.

"So you thought it would be acceptable to disobey orders, did you, Aya?" Anubis continued when he didn't answer. "Your instructions were to assassinate Katarina Winner to cause turmoil within the Preventer ranks. At least two of the pilots would've been emotionally shattered and unable to function. You, on the other hand, decided to spare her. Why is that?"

Aya kept his emotionless stare as he spoke. "I have no reason. I showed mercy instead of accuracy."

Anubis cackled. "Mercy? I didn't think you were capable of such an emotion. Not Aya Fujiyama. Could it be that you've developed a soft spot for the head mechanic?"

"I don't grasp the concept of love."

"Well, then. I believe that the bug has bit you without you realizing it." His superior taunted. "Aya, you did fall in love. I'll make sure to recover her body for you when we blow the Preventers to smithereens. You, in the mean time, will rot in this cell and think about what you've done."

Aya watched them exit the cell and lock it behind them. Once he'd heard them leave the block, he bashed his fists into the wall. He thought he'd saved Katarina from death. Now he'd brought it upon her certainly. Because he'd shown her mercy, Anubis would be sure to be particularly cruel in losing that particular quality. He had to get out of that cell and as quickly as possible. God knew what it meant for the others if he failed.

...

Duo hadn't moved from his post beside her bed since she'd been moved back to the Preventers base that morning. The blonde had yet to wake up from the surgery, but the doctor had said that was to be expected. Katarina had been transferred to Sally's care in sickbay, so he knew she'd be in good hands. The said woman entered the room with her charts and looked over the readings of the heart monitor.

"Everything looks fine here. How are you doing, Duo?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

The brunette rubbed his eyes. He looked exhausted. It was now heading well into the night and he showed no signs of moving. "Just peachy. I could take out a whole battalion of Leos right now."

Sally giggled as she tucked Katarina's chart back under her arm. "Well, Katarina should be waking up soon, Duo. You should get some rest and I'll call you when she wakes up."

"No way." Duo shook his head. "I'm not moving from this spot until I make sure that I'm the first one that sees her with her eyes open again."

Sally nodded with a sigh as she was leaving the room. "I'll be back in about an hour to change her bandage."

Duo let out a tired sigh as he pushed his bangs back with his fingers. It had been a long day that felt like it was getting longer. Shaking his head, his eyes returned to Katarina. The slow rise and fall of her chest assured him that she was sleeping quite deeply. "You're good at worrying me to death, you know that?" he whispered.

"…Sorry."

He looked up quickly, not quite believing that he'd heard anything. "Huh?"

"I'm sorry." Eye lids pulled open slowly to reveal groggy blue eyes, blinking away the remnants of sleep. "I'm sorry, Duo."

The brunette practically leapt out of his chair as he grabbed her hand. "You're awake!"

"Yeah…" she said, her voice raspy. "I need some water."

A relieved laugh tumbled over his lips as he reached for the water bottle on the table. Turning back around, the blonde was trying to sit up on her own, the strain pulling at the expression on her face. Duo replaced the bottle on the table and pulled her up by her underarms. Katarina looked away from him for a moment before accepting the water Duo offered her.

"You've got to take it easy, babe. It's been a rough ride for you."

The blonde looked at him as he took his seat beside her. "What happened, Duo? The last thing I remember is hearing a gunshot and I couldn't breathe. I was shot, wasn't I? I was sure I'd died."

Duo cocked an eyebrow as he tried to grasp what she was saying. "Why were you so sure? You didn't see the light or anything, did you?"

"No." Kat chuckled. "I was sitting in the parlor of our house and mom was on the couch with me. She apologized for not getting to know me and not being able to be there. Then dad walked in the room. He was telling mom that Iria was burning dinner. Dad said that he was proud of Quatre and I for taking care of the family business and each other. Mom told me that she was sorry I had to go so soon, but we'd see each other again and to take care of my brother."

"You were in between life and death." The brunette told her. "I guess it was your family's way of telling you that it wasn't your time to join them yet."

Kat gave a tired sigh as her shoulders slumped. She pulled the neck of her hospital gown out and down so that she could examine the wound in her chest. She dared to lift the bandage and look at the row of stitches that closed the incision. "They went in to take the bullet out."

"They wanted to make sure that it didn't shatter or move. They had to drain the blood out of your right lung. The miss was intentional, they said."

"I remember seeing red when I looked up. It had to have been hair. Aya…" the blonde whispered.

"I knew it! I fucking knew it!" Duo shouted. "God, he warned me earlier that morning and I didn't see it. Damn it!"

"I should've noticed his strange behavior from the start. He started asking about our relationship and how I knew that I was in love with you. He kissed me before the ball. I should've known then." She continued in a low voice.

Duo leaned over and pulled her close, careful of her injury. "You didn't know. None of us knew. It's over now. The most important thing is to get you back on your feet, Kat."

The blonde nuzzled into his arms and breathed in his scent. How she'd missed his familiar smell of cologne and metal. If they'd attempted to assassinate her, then that could only mean that they were nearing the beginning of their attack. They wanted to stop Gundam production for a while. It looked like the boys would be on their own. She closed her eyes and sighed. It wasn't going to be an easy road to recovery, that was for sure.

...

_Two weeks later…_

Two whole weeks in bed was bad. In fact, it blew. She was ready to go back to her office and get back to work. Sally would never allow that in a million years. If she wanted to go anywhere, she had to be taken there in a wheelchair for the time being. She was going to try to do it alone today.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Katarina pulled the wheelchair toward her with her feet. She moved herself carefully from the bed to the chair with relative ease. Getting to the hangar would be a different story. Sally had checked on her a few minutes earlier and was going for an early lunch. That might give her enough time to make it the Gundams. Pushing the wheels proved to be a little harder than she expected. The muscles in her arms, shoulders, and chest were still a bit weak.

Kat peaked down the hall both ways before pushing herself out the door. The corridors were relatively empty for that time of day, which was lucky for her. When she made it to the hangar, the familiar buzz of power tools and blow torches came to her ears. It was good to be back if only for a brief while. Noin was the first to spot her and quickly laid down her tools. The short-haired woman jogged up to her, a disapproving look on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Kat asked.

Noin frowned a bit. "Did you get here by yourself?"

The blonde nodded. "I had to wheel myself in here to even be allowed in the hangar. Sally wouldn't have brought me."

The older woman sighed as she looked back over her shoulder. "Maxwell! You have a visitor!"

It wasn't seconds later that the brunette was jogging along the floor and came to meet them. A surprised look came over his face as he saw Kat sitting in her wheelchair. "Babe, how did you get here?"

Kat held up her arms innocently and waved her hands. She didn't miss the frown the curved his lips.

"You know you're not supposed to doing much physical activity, Katarina." He said in a scolding tone.

"It's hard to be doing anything when I'm stuck in that damn bed." She pouted.

Duo shook his head. "You'd better not let Sally catch you down here or she'll rip you a new one."

Kat frowned as she adjusted herself in her wheelchair. "I don't care. I wanted to see how construction was coming along. I know Cassie's had her work cut out for her. Things look pretty good in here. Are there any test flights soon?"

Noin took the liberty of answering that question. "Deathscythe and Sandrock leave the hangar tomorrow. Heavyarms, Altron, and Wing Zero will should be ready a couple days after that."

"Cassie's done an excellent job." Kat commented. "It's almost impossible to work on Tallgeese _and_ the five Gundams, but she did it."

The brunette American nodded. "That's pretty impressive. She's gotten it all done without one project or the other suffering. I'm impressed."

"Not much impresses you, Duo." Came another voice. An aggrivated, yet amused, Sally entered the conversation. "You are supposed to be in your room little miss."

The blonde giggled sheepishly as she tried to hide her face. "Did you expect me to stay in that bed any longer by myself, Sally? How cruel."

Sally sighed as she moved behind the wheelchair and grasped the handles. "If you'll excuse us, we've got to get back to sickbay. You can have visitors at lunch."

Duo could hear Kat whining all the way out the door. He really couldn't blame her. If he'd had to been in bed as long as she had, he'd have gone crazy by now. Shaking his head, he looked to Noin, who was doing much of the same thing.

"That girl is going to get into some serious trouble with Sally if she keeps this up. That woman doesn't stand for her patients misbehaving."

"You'd think she'd learn that by now." Duo nodded. "Q-man should be back from his test flight in a few minutes. Then I guess it's my turn."

Noin scratched the back of her head precariously. "It's hard to believe that the Gundams are finished for the most part. I thought we'd seen the last of them seven years ago. It's a shame that things have to turn out like this."

"Yeah, well, I guess it just goes to show you that some people don't know what to do with peace." The brunette said bitterly. "They abuse the freedom."

"It's not all people that think like that, Duo." The former OZ officer commented. "It's the ones that have malicious intent underneath that you have to watch out for."

...

Later that evening, Duo left the hangar to ask Katarina if she'd like to go to dinner instead of having it brought to her room. It was about then that the announcement came over the loud speakers that Lady Une was calling an emergency meeting. The brunette cursed under his breath as he made his way to the conference room. The pilots, Zechs, and Howard were already there.

"I'm sure you all know why we're here." Lady Une said quietly. "Orion will be attacking any day now."

"What are we going to do then?" Wufei asked. "We've got a handful of old Leos and Aries to fight back with. That won't be enough, especially when we haven't even tested the Gundams properly."

"What choice do we have?" Zechs queried. "The only other thing I can think of is to move our operations to the lunar base."

The Chinese man snorted at this. "That would give us even less space to move in and evacuation would be much more difficult. That and the Gundams have been tested for space flight yet."

"It's better than sitting on our asses, Wufei." Duo spoke up. "If we can get the Gundams to the lunar base, we could reduce the chance that they'd be damaged in battle. Then we could finish them up completely."

Lady Une looked around the room at the rest of the occupants. "Is there anyone who objects to this plan to move our base of operations to the lunar base?"

They were all in agreement except for Wufei. The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes as he stood to leave from the conference room. "I see that it doesn't matter that I disagree with this plan. The decision has already been made."

"Sit down right now, Chang, and stop acting like a child." Lady Une snapped. "Now, starting tomorrow, we're going to start packing up the machinery and the Gundams. We'll load the carriers and be prepared to leave by the evening of the following day. Is any of this unclear?" she asked, glaring at Wufei. "Good. Dismissed."

Duo made his way out of the room and went straight to the cafeteria. If he didn't get there now, they'd be closing for the night. Even though the meeting only took about twenty minutes of his time, he was slightly aggravated with the situation. Picking up two dishes from the bar, he loaded them up and exited the cafeteria. This was such a pain in his ass.

He finally made it back to sickbay to see Kat waiting in bed for him. She gave him a concerned look as she waited for him to talk. Duo sighed as he handed her a plate and pulled up a chair for himself. He could feel her eyes on him as he started eating. She wanted to know about the meeting. He knew she did or else she wouldn't have been staring at him like that.

"Can I help you?" he asked, mindful of the mouth full of food.

"What did they say at the meeting?" Kat asked, tilting her head to the side.

Duo shrugged. "We're suspecting an attack by Orion any day now, so we're packing up and heading to the lunar base."

Kat bowed her head a bit in thought. "Lady Une must have good reason to fear Orion then if she's choosing to run to the lunar base. Sure, we can predict an attack easier from up there, but should things get bad, there's nowhere to run."

"That's what Wufei said." The brunette murmured.

"Don't compare me to him." Kat said quickly. "I find that insulting."

The brunette held his hands up in defense. "I didn't mean it that way! I just meant that Wufei thinks the same way you do for once."

Katarina crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. "I still don't like it. Wufei is a pig. I don't agree with anything he thinks."

"Well, we start packing the carriers tomorrow. We hope to have it done in three days or less. Now I don't want you sneaking off again so that you can help. Sally said it'll still be another couple of weeks before you can be on your feet. Until then, you have to stay in bed or in your wheelchair."

"I don't want to." She said stubbornly. "I feel useless sitting here doing nothing, Duo. I need to help do _something_."

Duo rose from his chair and sat on the side of her bed, stroking her hair before taking her in his arms. "I know you do, babe, but you can't. If you try now, then you'll only end up hurting worse than you already are."

"I'll get better fast. You just watch me, Duo Maxwell." Kat said sternly.

"If I catch you trying to walk before Sally says you can, so help me, I'll make sure you're restrained for the next two weeks, Katarina Winner." Duo answered her in much the same manner. "Now, I have to go finish up some things on Deathscythe. You'd better behave yourself."

...

After almost twenty-four hours of being in bed, Katarina was beginning to lose her mind. Duo had come to see her at lunch and she hadn't seen him since. The main objective for the day had been to pack the carriers. Since they'd been working since six that morning, the packing was almost done. They'd be finishing up at that time.

Shaking her head, Kat decided that since things were getting so serious, she had to start moving again. Sally had just left, so she wouldn't be back for a while since she'd said she was going to help with finishing up the packing. The older woman would be with Wufei and that was a job in itself. The blonde peeked as best she could out the window to make sure no one was in sight. When she was sure that the coast was clear, she slid to the edge of the bed. Katarina gently swung her feet over the side, feeling the cool tile under them.

Her resolve hardened as she put pressure onto her legs. Standing up, she felt like she was standing on jello. Rather than lifting her feet, she decided that it might be better to slide across the floor. Kat thought she was doing well to make it to the wall. She slumped against the wall for a moment or two to catch her breath before trying to make it to the other side of the room. That was when the dizziness hit her. The room spun out of control and she felt herself falling. The floor was beneath her in a matter of seconds.

Kat gazed up at the ceiling as she rested there on the floor. It was a perfect place for her to think while she couldn't go anywhere. War was upon them and there wasn't any way to change that. Duo, her brother, and all her friends were in danger. All she could do now was lay in bed and wait to get better instead of helping them. Angry tears welled in her eyes. She was useless right now. From the mini reports that Duo had been giving her, the Gundams hadn't been tested for space flight yet and they'd be taking off in the morning if everything went alright. Just as her tears began snaking their way from her eyes, a loud shrieking blared in her ears. Kat felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as she recognized it; The air strike siren.

She rolled onto her stomach and started attempting to crawl toward the door. She had to get out of the sickbay. She was almost to the door when it was thrown wide open. A familiar brunette looked around the room with panicked eyes before they finally landed on her. Almost an instant later, a severe series of tremors shook the base. Duo had braced himself in the doorway and Katarina covered her head with her arms. Quicker than she could see, Duo raced in and scooped her up in his arms. An angry look crossed his face before turning into to panic once again.

"Once we get to the lunar base, I'm going to give you a tongue lashing so hard that it would even make Heero cry because you know that you're not supposed to be out of bed, but for now, we need to get you to a carrier."

The blonde was surprised at how fast he could run with her in his arms for it didn't take them long to make it to the hangar. Sally was already waiting for them at the cargo bay door to take her from him. Fear had gripped her whole being. Duo was going to fight. He could be killed. The tears from earlier kept spilling down her cheeks as he pulled to a stop to hand her to Sally, gently touching her feet to the floor.

Duo nodded gravely to the other woman. "Take care of her, Sally. If for some reason I don't come back—"

"Don't say that!" Katarina shouted, clutching his shirt in her fists. "You have to come back, Duo! You have to!"

The brunette's expression softened as he placed his hand on her head, her face buried in his chest. "It's my job to protect you and the planet, babe. It's my job. I knew it would be dangerous and so did you."

Katarina sobbed into his chest as he hugged her tightly. "Please don't leave me, Duo. I can't lose you. You're too important to me and I would die without you."

Duo pulled her back at arm's length so that he could examine her tear-stained face, attempting to swallow the lump in his throat. "Katarina, listen to me. I'm not promising that nothing will happen to me out there, but you've got to promise me that you'll go on if it should. I love you more than life itself and it would kill me again to see anything bad happen to you."

The sirens blasted around them and the hangar shook as Duo pulled her into a passionate kiss. Sally was wiping her eyes as she took Katarina and he backed down the ramp. As the cargo bay door began to slowly rise, the blonde saw Duo racing toward the Deathscythe into the blood-red light of the fading sun. Sally helped her into the cockpit and strapped the distraught young woman into the seat.

"Hang on, Kat. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

...

As the cockpit door closed, Duo maneuvered Deathscythe to the opening with the other four Gundams. The last time the five of them had stood together like that had been seven years ago at their destruction. An oppressive air hung over them as they waited for the carriers to get off the ground. Quatre could be heard praying in Arabic over the frequency.

"Well, I guess we can skip the simulations now and consider this the first test." Duo laughed nervously, trying to ease the tension.

"I don't see why not. We don't know how skilled the Orion pilots are, so we're going to have to watch each other's backs." Quatre added.

"It's important that the carriers reach the lunar base." Heero told them. "There are some civilians aboard those ships."

"Understood." Trowa agreed. "Pilot safety comes second."

"None of us are to die in this battle, is that understood?" Wufei ordered in a grave tone. "I won't have any one of you buried before me and obtain a higher rank."

"I guess this is it then. Time to become the God of Death once more."

As if on some unspoken queue, all five Gundams switched on their thrusters and blasted out of the hangar. Like five harbingers of hell they sped toward the atmosphere and the darkness of space. Once they'd left the ozone, chaos had erupted in the stars. The bright flash of explosions had already started. The battle had already begun. The five Gundams separated immediately in an attempt to minimize the number of enemies. The carriers had to get through.

Duo sliced through his enemies like a hot knife through butter. The laser scythe upgrade was a great idea in hind sight. An Orion Serpent was heading straight for the God of Death, causing a dreadful smirk to curl his lips. It would seem that he worked best on the battlefield. Duo launched two heat-seeking missiles as the Serpent was at twenty meters and closing. The mobile suit never made it to him as it exploded in a mass of hydrogen and fire. He quickly did a one-eighty spin to examine the battlefield once again.

"You've got one on your tail, Q-man! Ten yards and closing!" he bit quickly over the frequency.

Sandrock shifted to the south, raising his dual sickles that were glowing red. They quickly disposed of the enemy, leaving nothing but a few floating parts and some sparking wires. Quatre's face appeared on the screen ahead of him, his goggles firmly in place over his eyes.

"Thanks for the assist, Duo. I'd have been dead."

"No prob, Q-man. Let's go help Trowa defend those carriers. Kat's on one of them."

The two shot over to the Heavyarms as his Gatling gun was firing round upon round at the Orion Serpents that were trying to take out the carriers. The Altron wasn't far from him dealing with some of the mobile dolls. As the enemies had thinned out around the carriers, Zechs's voice could be heard over the transmitter in somewhat of a panic.

"Heero, if you're close by, I need some back up! Orion's Gundam is coming in fast!"

Duo's targetting computer began whistling at him, indicating a new target was approaching the battle. Sure enough, a strange mobile suit was on its way to the Tallgeese III. Heero had told them to avoid confrontation with Orion's Gundam at all costs. The Wing Zero was a bit tied up, so it looked like Zechs was on his own. The Gundam, now known as Diabolos, was gearing up for an ultimate attack when suddenly it stopped. The delay in the operating system gave Wing Zero just enough time to fly in and save Zechs.

Deathscythe was watching the rear of the last carrier as they made their way to the lunar base. As the enemy Serpents were retreating, there was still one using a beam cannon bringing up the rear. The pilot was firing wildly, dangerously close to hitting the final carrier. Duo hissed through his teeth as he felt a stray shot rock the Deathscythe. A warning came over the screen that one of the stabilizers had been hit and was dangerously close to overheating. Such a hit would only result in explosion or loss of control. The brunette turned his Gundam around and with an angry cry, he slashed the Serpent in half horizontally.

"Q-man, are the carriers docked or close to docking? I've lost my right stabilizer and I'm overheating. I need to land right away."

It took a moment for the blonde Arabian to answer. "Affirmative, Duo. The last carrier just made it to the hangar. Hurry up and come on in."

In the time it took the Deathscythe to turn around, it was ninety percent overheated. Duo wasted no time in putting the thrusters into overdrive. The Gundam began to tremble as it was entering the chute to the hangar. Quatre's frantic voice came over the frequency.

"Duo, you're coming in too fast! If you don't cut speed, you're going to crash!"

"If I don't make it into the hangar, Q-man, I'm going to explode anyway and you can bring the chunks back to Kat! Make sure the way is clear, I'm coming in!"

At the last possible second, he cut the power completely off and clenched his eyes closed. He knew he was entering the chute too fast, but if he didn't, he'd never make it to the hangar. The hangar doors barely opened fast enough for the Deathscythe to squeeze in. A terrible rocking signified that he'd impacted with the floor and was skidding across it. The force of the impact sent him flying forward despite his safety harness, his head making contact with the control console. Duo saw stars in the back of his eyelids, but he didn't dare open his eyes until the Gundam came to a complete stop.

...

Katarina, with the help of the adrenaline pumping through her veins, was able to stand on her own. Trowa and Wufei were the first ones to emerge from their cockpits, sweat-ridden and very tired. Heero was next, followed by her brother. She bit her lip and held her breath. There was still no sign of Duo. All of a sudden, she heard Quatre shouting into his com-link.

"Duo, you're coming in too fast! If you don't cut speed, you're going to crash!"

Something had happened to Deathscythe? She could only make out bits of the reply. Something must've happened to the communications device. "…Q-man…explode anyway…back to…I'm coming in!"

The doors had just finished opening most of the way when the Deathscythe came hurtling through them. It collided roughly with the floor, sending a shower of sparks into the air. The hangar filled with smoke as the flames from the stabilizer rose into the air. The squeal of the metal against the floor made her want to cover her ears, but she could do nothing but stare. As the Deathscythe came to a halt, there was no movement from the cockpit. Cassie had joined them, shock written on her face. Kat's hands covered her mouth.

"Oh my God." The other woman murmured. "He can't be…can he?"

As if to answer her question, the hatch flew open, allowing the smoke to pour out of it. Duo emerged coughing and trying to blink his stinging eyes. Ash stained his cheeks and forehead. A steady flow of blood came from a gash in his head. Katarina ignored Sally's orders completely and took off at a dead run to the brunette, throwing her arms around his neck once she'd reached him.

"Thank God you're alright." She cried, looking him over. "I was so worried once the fighting had started."

Duo hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. "I'm just glad I made it back in one piece. I wasn't too sure with the landing."

"What happened? I didn't leave out anything, did I?" Kat asked, sounding guilty.

"No, I got hit by a stray beam cannon blast and blew a stabilizer. It wasn't your fault. I just had to know how to handle it." He told her.

The blonde wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, holding tight to the pilot in front of her. "Now you have to stay in bed. You can't fight anymore."

"Kat—"

"Please, just humor me for now, Duo?" she asked, pouting.

A tired chuckle was issued from him as he rested his head against hers. "Fine. Let's go talk to Sally. I might have a concussion."

...

The guards they'd left behind to watch the prison block were morons. It hadn't taken him very long to pick the lock of his cell and head out the door. Aya neutralized the two guards before heading toward the hangar. He needed to escape right away. It was important that he tell Preventer everything he knew about what was going on with Anubis within Orion's walls.

Careful to avoid the sentry, the redhead took any bit of cover that he had. It would be a trick to hotwire a shuttle, but he could do it. Slipping past another guard, he finally reached his destination. If he was going to steal a space shuttle, he might as well steal Anubis's.

Once he was sure that he was alone, he cut two of the wires, putting them together to start the battery. With a few protesting shouts, Aya was out of the hangar. That was taking care of at least one problem. The only things he had too figure out was where he'd stay and how he'd reach Katarina in time to save her from Anubis.

...

End Chapter


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Seven years ago…

The lounge room was quiet, but tense as the group waited for word. Outside in the main seating area of the newly remodeled Tokyo Dome, fifty thousand fans waited anxiously. All were frightened. All were worried.

Inside the lounge room, Camui's band and staff members were gathered around several large tables, almost all of them either with their heads resting on it or their dark almond shaped eyes staring at its surface as if in a trance.

The only exception to this was Cassandra Matthews, who was standing at the very back of the room, her back pressed against the cold concrete wall, her arms folded over her chest and her eyes closed. The sonic booms from the atmosphere that were heard an hour before had all stopped, which meant that any and all of the mobile suits that were heading to Earth had made it, and though it had been confirmed that the battle was now on the ground, so far, nothing had come their way.

Still, the entire place was on lockdown. No one was allowed in or out until the threat had passed.

Camui had been gone for nearly three hours now and no word since his departure had made its way to them.

"You ok?"

Cassandra's eyes drifted open as Juun walked over and stood next to her, leaning back against the wall. He looked exhausted but was trying hard to keep a soft smile on his face. His wild blond and black hair, which he'd had styled into a Mohawk for a majority of the night, now seemed to be falling, the pounds of hairspray, wax and gel he'd caked on finally starting to break apart. Sweat dripped slowly down the sides of his face and into the short braided beard. He'd been absent from the room for an hour now, meaning he must have gone into the adjoining room to work his stress off on Camui's exercise equipment.

"I don't know, Juun,"

"Ah," He leaned over and nudged her a bit, nearly tipping her towards the ground because she was so off balance. "Try to stay positive. Tetsuya's a fighter, you know that. He'll come through it just fine!"

"That gundam we built…it hasn't been tested yet. We didn't have time because of the tour," Cassandra straightened herself back up and sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. "I don't know, Juun, I just don't know,"

Juun took a deep breath and looked at the floor in thought for a moment before he reached over and draped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her taught to his side. "Whatever happens, we all love you and we're all here for you and for Shoji-san. If anything happens…" he squeezed her gently. "I'm here,"

"Arigato," She whispered quietly, leaning against him and exhaling hard. Fifteen minutes later, as silence settled over them again, her back pocket became abuzz as her cell phone's text message alert was activated. She lifted the phone out of its confines, flipped the lid and stared at the message as it appeared on her screen.

"What the hell is that?" Juun questioned, blinking as he studied the three foreign looking symbols on her screen. "That's gibberish. Who sent it?"

Cassandra, her lips parted slightly in surprise, just stared at the symbols, the message having been sent by Tetsuya.

"Cassie?"

"It's from Tetsuya…"

"What?"

"It says 'I love you'," She whispered, still staring at it, her eyes filling with fluid.

"No it doesn't. It doesn't actually say anything. It's just… random symbols. Let me see that!" Juun took the phone from her to get a closer look while Cassandra's arms dropped to her sides limply, overcome by the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest as a tremble found its way down her arms to her hands.

"Dork must be texting with one hand and piloting his damned gundam home with the other," Juun muttered, his whole attention fixated on that screen. "I'm texting him back that he's sending gibberish!"

Cassandra's eyes, now so full of tears that they were beginning to spill down her cheeks, raised her eyes towards the others in the room, a few of which had glanced towards them, curious about Juun's outburst.

He never said that. Not when he was sending coded messages from within the battlefield. Not unless he was actually afraid that…

Half an hour later, her worst fears were realized.

The door flew open and drew everyone's attention to the occupant that now filled it, the room silent as the grave. Just by the sad, yet nervous, look on the soldier's face, the others could tell it was bad news.

"My brother?" Shoji demanded as he rose from his chair, his palms pressed into the hard white plastic of the table he'd been sitting behind for the last four hours. "Where is my brother?"

The soldier swallowed thickly, his shoulders slumping. "I'm s-sorry. Tetsuya Camui was k-killed in b-battle,"

Juun gasped sharply, his eyes going wide. Cassandra just stared at the soldier in horror as a shrill, anguished screaming filled the room.

It wasn't until Juun and Sho had their arms around her that she realized…she was the one screaming.

...

Howard paused in the hallway and glanced to his right, staring down toward an observation room off of the main building, the sight of Cassie standing near the glass walls and staring out into the far reaches of space blankly having caught his eyes. He sighed quietly as he turned and headed towards her, his arms slowly rising to fold over his chest as he came to a stop next to her.

"You're supposed to be resting. Zechs said you got banged around a bit on the way here,"

Cassandra shrugged, her tired looking eyes never leaving the stars on the other side of that glass.

"Cassie," Howard reached out and touched her shoulder, squeezing gently. "What happened tonight…?"

"He's still in there, Howard. He still has some control over the Cerberus. The only reason I'm not dead right now is because I screamed. If the radio hadn't been broadcasting…" She shook her head and folded her arms over her own chest, trying to hide the tremble in them. "He's waiting for me, Howard,"

Howard nodded and took a deep, heavy breath then exhaled it in a huff. "Duo's got a concussion and Kat is back in bed. Sally had to sedate Kat just to get her there. She's waiting until she's sure Duo's in the clear before she knocks his crazy ass out, too."

"Heero said Deathscythe could be repaired in about a day. There were enough spare parts stored here to hold us over. He found another stabilizer and is going to start patching it up tomorrow morning. Tallgeese has a few dents and dings, but she's no worse for wear,"

"We only lost five Serpents," Howard mentioned with a shrug. "We were lucky. This was just a preemptive strike. Anubis just wanted to test those gundams against ours,"

Cassandra nodded and she looked so sullen. "I heard Relena is here,"

"Arrived a few hours ago. Lady Une thought it would be best for her to check in here before continuing on to the L3 colony cluster. She has a convention that she's attending there and has to have an escort, considering what just happened."

"Understandable,"

"Cassie, there's something else,"

Blinking rapidly because the sudden change in Howard's tone surprised and worried her, Cassandra finally turned to face him. "What is it?"

"Rumor is starting to spread…word has gotten out about Camui's grave having been exhumed. Shoji wants to know what he can say,"

Cassandra looked away again. "Why are you asking me? You should be asking Une,"

"Because Une told me to ask _you_," Howard admitted. "We all figure Anubis is just going to announce it on his own pretty soon anyway, so we might as well get the word out. Warn people about how sinister and dangerous Orion is,"

"Then tell them everything Une will allow you to tell them," Cassandra turned away from the glass and headed back down the hallway.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to go check on Tallgeese,"

Howard blinked as she disappeared around the bend and took the elevator down to the main hangar. Zechs had already run diagnostics and checked the damage to Tallgeese's systems, but Howard could understand Cassandra's need to do it herself. Tallgeese was, after all, very much familiar with Camui and Cassandra's relationship with him. Tallgeese had been created in the presence of the both of them, hence the reason Tallgeese sometimes called Cassadra, "mother."

"She okay?"

Howard nodded towards Trowa as the younger man approached, looking fatigued and tense.

"Yeah. She's just a bit shook up,"

"Understandable considering the circumstances of her arrival here. Wufei seems to think we need to keep a close eye on her right now because of what's happened,"

Howard sighed, frowning. "After what's gone on tonight? Yeah, I think we do,"

...

Tallgeese watched her approach to the computer, the green eye lights lit brightly and flashing menacingly.

Cassandra glanced up at her as she moved towards the computer and started keying in a few command codes.

"Zechs has already done this. Both of our diagnostic tests proved that all systems are functioning normally and I have taken minimal damage,"

"I'm aware, Tal," Cassandra muttered as she leaned closer to the monitor.

"Then what are you doing?"

"Looking for something," Cassandra paused, glancing up at Tallgeese, her eyes narrowed. "Something private,"

"In that case, I created a ghost folder. There is a message waiting for you there,"

Cassandra blinked, her fingers stilling over the keys for a moment before she smiled softly and searched for the folder Tallgeese had referenced. What she found there brought tears to her eyes.

"This was received during the battle?"

"Transmitted as they retreated."

"The origin?"

"Diabolos,"

Cassandra took a deep breath as she stared at the five strange symbols flashing on the screen. They didn't represent any language known to the world. These symbols were a result of a game she and Camui had played with Tallgeese when her A.I. had first been integrated into the system. The result of that game had been a random set of made up symbols that ended up representing particular words or meanings for the threesome. It's ultimate purpose was to develop a way for the three of them to contact one another secretly if they were to get separated. And more importantly, if the transmissions were ever intercepted, they could not be deciphered by anyone except those whom had created them.

Five symbols. Five words. One meaning.

I love you. I'm okay.

"What are you going to do, mother?"

Cassandra closed out the transmission file and then closed the other files pulled up on the screen before standing upright and looking up at Tallgeese.

"I don't know yet, Tal. I don't know,"

...

Kat groaned as the sedative-induced sleep finally wore out and her eyes opened to dim florescent light. For a moment she squinted against it, then finally blinked and pushed herself upright, pulling her knees up and resting her elbows upon them. Beside her, Duo was out cold, the sedatives and pain killers Sally was sure to have shot him up with having completely taken over his exhausted body. She huffed quietly and touched the scar on her chest before her eyes caught movement near the doorway.

"Cassie?"

Cassandra filled the doorway, dressed in her uniform but looking completely disheveled.

"What time is it?"

"Late…or early," Cassandra whispered as she came into the room and sat down next to Kat's bed, looking sick and miserable. "I haven't really been keeping track of time…"

"What's the matter?"

For a moment, she was silent, then Kat reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"Cassie?"

"I want to hold him," Cassie breathed, her voice cracking. "I want to touch him. To see him, to hear his voice. And not on the radio or on TV, but in person…I want him back,"

Kat frowned, her bottom lip trembling as she watched her best friend break down miserably beside her. Cassandra had held all of the grief and the pain inside all this time, had tried her best to be so strong for herself, as well as everyone around her, but now, after seeing Diabolos in action, after realizing Camui was still in partial control, she was breaking.

"I understand," Kat whispered as she glanced over towards Duo. "We all saw what happened, Cassie. We all heard. He has some amount of control or he wouldn't have stopped,"

"I know. That's the part that's killing me. He's waiting for me to come and save him and I don't know how! I don't know where he is!" She struggled for a few minutes to take a full breath before Kat reached out and wrapped her arms around Cassie's shaking shoulders. After a few minutes of uncontrollable sobs, Cassandra finally seemed to regain control of herself. Kat let her go as she reached up and wiped her eyes, still looking miserable, but a little calmer.

"What else is bothering you?"

"I keep having dreams about the night… the night he "died"." Cassandra admitted, looking down at her shaking hands. "Bits and pieces. Sometimes I dream about the hours leading up to him leaving for battle, and then like tonight, the four hours after he left that led to that soldier telling us he was dead. They're so vivid and I wake up and feel so miserable."

"How many times have you had this dream?"

"Every night for the last week. Even after I wake up and then drift off again, it just continues. I don't know why,"

Kat bit her bottom lip, thinking very carefully. "Maybe it's your subconscious mind trying to tell you something. Did anything important happen in these dreams? Something that should stand out above everything else? Maybe your subconscious thinks you know how to find him,"

"That doesn't make sense…"

"Hey, I'm reaching in the dark here!" Kat insisted and she sighed heavily. "Really, Cassandra. If you've had the same dreams over and over again, your mind is obviously trying to tell you something. What stands out the most in the dreams? What is the first thing about the dream that you remember when you wake up? Aside from the obvious; that Camui is dead,"

Cassandra bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "Thirty minutes before that soldier came to tell us Camui had been killed… Camui sent me a text message,"

"He did?" Kat blinked in surprise. "Did he really? Or was that just something that happened in the dream?"

"No, he really did." Cassandra said quickly. "He always did it," Cassandra pulled her cell phone from her jacket pocket and scrolled through her saved messages. "I saved it to the memory chip. I didn't want it to get erased…it was the last thing he ever said to me," She found the message at long last, pulled it up on the screen and handed it to Kat who immediately looked confused. "It was a game we played with Tallgeese when we first developed her A.I. It ended up being a way for us to communicate in emergency situations where intercepted transmissions could mean life or death. Camui and I came up with a whole series of symbols for the most basic of words. We had a few symbols that represented full phrases, but only a few and those were only used if the problem was dire. If any of us ever got separated, we'd use this language to communicate with each other. This way, if the transmissions were intercepted, there would be no one in the universe that could translate the symbols except one of us,"

"What do these symbols mean?" Kat asked as her eyes drifted to the date and time stamp on the message.

"I love you," Cassie whispered, looking sullen. "He never sent that as a message. Never. Not when he was in battle. It would always be, "I'm coming home," or "I'm injured but okay,". He told me before that if anything ever got so bad as to make him believe that he might not come home… he would send that message so I would know,"

"When did you say you got this message?" Kat asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Maybe 30 minutes before that soldier came in. It might not have been that long now that I think about it, but my grasp of time at that point was a little off,"

"That can't be right," Kat whispered.

"What?"

"The time stamp on this message isn't right. All of the official records have the destruction of Camui's gundam marked at 2:43:13 am, January first, AC 198. The time stamp on this message is 3:53:21 am. Over an hour later," Kat glanced at Cassandra then tilted the phone towards her. "Here, look. Every phone these days comes equipped with timestamp recognition. See here? This is when he actually sent the message, and this is when you actually received it. The number's only about a fraction of a second off, meaning you got the message almost immediately. I got a text from Duo the other day four hours after he had actually sent it, but when the message was received, it still showed the correct time he pressed the send button. Cassie, Camui sent you this message an hour after he was officially declared dead."

Cassandra stared in open mouthed surprise. "But Juun… he sent messages back because he didn't understand Camui's message…they all came back undeliverable and I even tried to call but the call wouldn't go through,"

"Anubis or someone from Orion must have caught him sending the message and destroyed the phone."

"I... You mean I…" Cassandra gasped, her voice cracking again. "I had a chance… I could have found him earlier,"

"You didn't miss that chance, Cassie." Kat whispered, slightly hesitant because she didn't know whether what she knew should be said out loud. Cassandra was liable to do anything at this point to get Camui back. Kat frowned, chewing on her bottom lip while Cassandra stared at her, hopeful.

"Damn it!" Kat cursed before reaching over to the end table and ripping a piece of paper from her medical chart, grabbing the pen and writing furiously. "Take this. It's the password to my personal laptop. Cassie, there is software on my laptop that can help you. Howard and Heero hooked me up with it a few months ago in case something happened during battle and we lost track of anyone." Kat wrote another piece of information onto the paper. "This is the software and the password to access it. Once you're in, go to cell phone tracking and key in all of the information. Type in the timestamp of when Camui sent the message then the timestamp when you received it. Once you've done that, key in the number of the phone you want to track, in this case, Camui's, then hit enter. It'll take a few minutes because there's a shit-ton of information that it'll have to search through, but it will pull up the location of Camui when he made that phone call. If he was anywhere in space, on Earth or on or near a colony or colony cluster, it will know. If there was an imaging satellite nearby at the time, you might even have pictures of his captors or the vessel he was on, but I'm not sure. Either way, it'll give you a good starting point,"

Cassie stared at Kat for a moment, absolutely stunned. "Kat…"

She swallowed thickly. "Damn it, Cassie… You call me when you get wherever you're going, okay? Do you promise?"

"Yes!" Cassandra breathed as Kat passed the paper over.

"Relena is leaving tomorrow after the meeting with Lady Une and the military officials. Find a way onto that shuttle. Once you get to L3, you'll be able to get to wherever you have to go from there,"

"Kat…Thank you. Thank you so much!" Cassandra jumped up and hugged the woman, tears pouring out of her eyes. "Thank you…!"

"You had better be safe," Kat whispered hoarsely, hugging her tightly. "If there's any sign of trouble you send us a message. Zechs and myself. Any of us. We'll find you,"

Cassandra nodded as she let Kat go and backed away. "I will. Thank you!"

"Go before Zechs realizes you're gone!"

...

"Relena's shuttle leaves in an hour. Her escort is ready and there's also an escort waiting for her in L3. Heero hired them since he can't go with her himself." Zechs said as he walked with Lady Une down the hallway towards the conference room where Relena was waiting. "She's hoping to have something good to tell the people of Earth because of the attack. The only good news I can think of to mention is that we've discovered Tetsuya Camui to be alive,"

"That would distract several thousand people from the problem at hand…for a little while." Lady Une admitted, sighing quietly as they approached the conference room doors. "To tell you the truth, it might have been better to have issued a statement when the grave was exhumed. Camui's brother has been calling Howard, trying to figure out what to tell the fans. Apparently, speculation has been raging about why the grave might have been dug up. I've read some of them, and you'd be amazed at how close to the truth some of them get. I told Howard to ask Cassandra what she would be comfortable with telling everyone. According to Howard, she said to tell them everything _we're_ comfortable with. Basic information, no real details, nothing that could possibly interfere with our goal of defeating Orion."

"I agree," Zechs conceded as they entered the conference room. His blue eyes immediately searched the room. Everyone was present except for Kat and Duo and… "Where's Cassandra?"

"She wanted to be alone," Howard shrugged, shaking his head from where he stood next to the door. "She's more upset than she's letting on."

"She didn't sleep for long," Zechs admitted quietly. "She tossed and turned for a few hours then finally left. Kat said she came in to sickbay for a little while just to talk. After that, she ended up back in the hangar talking to Tallgeese."

"I know. I found her this morning in the lobby, curled up on one of the couches. She wasn't asleep, but she was well on her way to it. I figured after the meeting I'd have you go check on her,"

Zechs nodded, sighing quietly. "Any word on Orion or where they might have retreated?"

"No, they got the hell out of dodge awfully fast. We were too preoccupied with getting everyone safely to base that no one risked following. Our systems were being jammed, too, so we weren't able to properly track them,"

Zechs nodded again, clearly disappointed. "And Deathscythe?"

"Undergoing repairs as we speak. Kat's back in the hangar overseeing it since Sally gave her the all clear. Duo's still confined to bed rest for at least another day, but Sally says he's recovering fine."

"That's good," Zechs said hurriedly as Lady Une took herself to the head of the conference room and stood at the podium set up in front of the cameras. Relena was standing off to the side, ready and waiting for her cue to take over. "Here goes nothing,"

...

"How long do you think it will take them to air that video?" Lady Une asked as she rejoined Zechs in the hallway, both of them escorting Relena down to her shuttle.

"As soon as all of the content is approved by the President. Shouldn't be more than 12 hours, if that," Lady Une said hurriedly as they sped up to get Relena to her shuttle to keep her from being late. "After that, the whole world will know,"

"I'm a little worried about the collective reaction Relena's announcement might bring,"

"Well, yes, I have that worry as well, but the more aware the people are, the less chance Orion has to recruit any more followers. Too much has happened already," Lady Une growled as they reached the shuttle bay and saw Relena onboard. "I sent Mariemeia to stay with Dorothy Catalonia. At least there I know she'll be safe. Dorothy is a resourceful woman and I know she'll keep Mariemeia safe from Orion. I wont have that little girl corrupted a second time,"

"Anubis has enough corruption for this world in himself. We definitely don't need a second one of him. I have a feeling he won't stay in hiding for long. This was just a test, he'll be back, and he'll be back with a vengeance,"

Lady Une nodded as she moved with Zechs and Heero to the observation deck to watch Relena's shuttle take off safely towards L3. "We will be ready this time,"

...

Boarding that shuttle and entering the L3 colony cluster with Relena was easier than Cassandra had thought it would be. For a moment, prior to the shuttle leaving, she thought Heero might have seen her hiding, but so far no one had even noticed her absence. Cassandra stepped out of the transportation dock and into the busy streets of L3-X18999. The colony had, surprisingly, flourished after the end of the Mariemeia war, Relena herself having endorsed the colony. Its economy still wasn't quite stable, but more and more people were starting to move there.

Cassandra glanced around for a moment and followed the crowd to the center of the city where a large TV monitor was mounted against the side of one of the dominant skyscrapers in the colony. At least twelve hours had passed since she'd snuck off of the lunar base, so the broadcast that was about to come on had to have been Relena's.

She blended in well with the crowd, having bought a new outfit and tossed her Preventer uniform before leaving the transportation station.

"Do you know what's going on?"

Cassandra glanced briefly at the women speaking next to her.

"It's an emergency broadcast. That Orion group attacked Earth yesterday!" The two women stopped speaking and looked up at the screen, waiting expectantly for the message to be broadcast.

Finally, Lady Une's face appeared on the screen. She quickly introduced Relena and then stepped away, leaving the people whispering and wondering in the streets.

"As many of you may have already come to realize, our peace is once again being threatened. The group known as "Orion" has now made a very real threat against our nation. A little over twenty-four hours ago, the Earth Preventer base was attacked and almost completely destroyed by a troop of mobile dolls commissioned and built by the Orion faction. So far, Preventer is reporting the death toll to be twelve. At this time, we do not have any confirmed reports of civilian deaths. This minimal death toll is only because Preventer had, almost a year ago, commissioned the reconstruction of the five Gundams as well as several other mobile suits. Approximately one year ago, the Orion faction made itself known by hacking into the Preventer mainframe and stealing the plans for several mobile suits, as well as a device originally created by the scientists of OZ. It has now been confirmed that Orion has successfully built two brand new gundams. One manned, one un-manned. The battle, though short, began on Earth and made its way into space. Because of the courage of the soldiers of Preventer, the battle was won and Preventer staff, as well as military officials, myself included, were safely transported to the lunar base which has been converted to our new base of operations. I am bringing this to everyone's attention as we may still have a chance to put a stop to this war. If there are any soldiers out there that wish to fight to uphold the piece, you are asked to contact Preventer directly or go to one of their offices immediately to join their ranks. We have been unable to determine the numbers belonging to Orion and with the limited amount of mobile suits and pilots at our disposal, we are in desperate need of help. Please, if you wish to fight to uphold the peace we have already fought so hard to attain, join us. If anyone has any information about the Orion faction's leaders or where they might be headquartered, contact us immediately."

Here, Relena paused and closed her eyes. "If you would please bare with me, there is one more announcement that must be made. Lady Une?"

Now, Lady Une reclaimed the podium and looked into the camera, her face serious. "Approximately three weeks ago, the leader of Orion, who calls himself Anubis, contacted Preventer. What he revealed to us shocked us. What I am about to share with you now, I share with permission from Shoji Camui and Cassandra Matthews. On January first, After Colony 198 at two forty-three and thirteen am, the mobile suit of Tetsuya Camui was destroyed by the Altron Gundam. At this time, Tetsuya Camui was declared officially killed in action. I am here to tell you that, as of three weeks ago, that declaration has been revoked. Pilot and soldier Tetsuya Camui is alive."

Cassandra's chest tightened as she heard the outcry from the crowd around her.

"He has now been declared a Prisoner of War, held captive for the last seven years by the Orion faction. We are asking for help in bringing Tetsuya home. Again, if anyone has any information regarding the whereabouts of the Orion headquarters, base of operations, or Anubis himself, you are to contact us immediately. Thank you,"

Cassandra waited with the crowd as the transmission ended and the President came on to make his official statement, though she didn't hang around for that segment. Instead, she turned and headed down through the crowd towards a less crowded street. There was a secondary transportation station at the other end of that road that would be less crowded. Getting a shuttle from there would be a little easier and there was a smaller chance of her being seen by anyone she might know or who might know her.

She made it halfway before her phone started buzzing in her back pocket. She reached for it, her eyes narrowing at the number flashing on her screen. It wasn't one she recognized.

"Hello?"

"I know where you can find what you're looking for,"

Her eyes narrowed as she paused on the sidewalk, almost immediately recognizing the voice. "Aya,"

"L4, Colony YN03031. It's a fairly new colony in the L4 cluster, built in the last forty years. Once you get there, head to the south end of the city. If you want to be found at that point, you'll be found. Camui is being held there. Oh, and a word of advice. If you get the chance to destroy the Cerberus, I suggest you do it."

Cassandra blinked as the call disconnected abruptly. That man wasn't one to argue any point and he never really let anyone else have the chance to do so either, unless it was Duo, of course, but that was an entirely different story. He enjoyed pissing off Duo.

"L4-YN03031..." She turned to look towards the end of the sidewalk at the space port entrance, heading in that direction without even noticing the red haired man standing on the opposite sidewalk, watching her carefully. Her initial theory that this particular space port wouldn't be busy turned out to be correct, for which she was grateful. There were only two families in line ahead of her at the ticketing desk.

Cassandra groaned as her phone began buzzing again and she stared down at the name flashing on her screen, torn between answering and just ignoring the call.

"Sorry, Zechs…" She muttered as she chose to ignore the call and approached the desk. "One way. L4-YN03031."

"I have a few seats available on the shuttle leaving in half an hour,"

"Perfect,"

"Cash or charge, ma'am?"

Cassandra glanced down at her phone for a moment before looking back up at the clerk. "Cash,"

...

"Damn it!" Zechs cursed, fighting the urge to chuck the phone across the conference room.

"We all knew she would do this," Wufei said quietly, leaning against the conference table, his arms folded over his chest. "After the battle, there was no avoiding it,"

"She must know something that we don't. Where did she go last night?"

"To see Kat," Zechs muttered, shaking his head. "But Kat said she was just upset about Camui and talked about the night he was supposedly dead. Howard found her with Tallgeese after that then she was in the lounge room…"

"I found this in her room," Sally said as she rushed in, thrusting a folded piece of paper out towards Zechs who snatched it out of her hand.

"What the hell is this?" Zechs stared at the five symbols, totally confused.

"It's code," Heero said from where he was leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, his face neutral. "She left it on purpose,"

"Let me see that," Howard tipped the paper in his direction while Zechs still held it and blinked. "It's the emergency code she and Camui developed with Tallgeese years ago. Did she write this? What purpose would that suit? They didn't share the meaning of any of the symbols with me or anyone else for that matter."

"Wait a minute," Wufei snatched the paper out of their hands and growled, showing them the file path at the bottom. "Look at the file path. This came from Tallgeese…!"

"Transmission…" Zechs murmured as he snatched the paper back and examined it a little more closely. "Received when Orion retreated. This came from Diabolos…"

"Find out what it means. Find her!" Lady Une ordered, looking extremely stressed. "We cannot afford to lose her at this point! We need her here. Find her!"

...

End Chapter


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Two days into Deathscythe's repairs and the mobile suit was already starting to look better. There were some melted circuits that still needed to be replaced, not to mention wires, computer chips, and some breakers. The right stablizer had been the first thing to be repaired on Kat's orders. Most of the cosmetic work had been finished and it was mostly the electronics that needed fixing. The blonde would do that herself.

Katarina sighed heavily as she wiped her forehead. She'd been given clearance to start moving around again, but not to over do it. It would still take quite a bit of getting used to since she'd been in bed for quite a while. Duo was bound to his bed for at least today since he'd gotten quite a nasty bump on the head. It had given her quite a scare. A steady fall of footsteps on the catwalk alerted her to a presence joining her.

"How are the repairs coming?"

"As well as can be expected, Howard. All I need to do is replace the control panel in the cockpit now." She replied quietly.

"Duo seems to be doing better. A crack on the head like that could've done some real damage." The older man commented.

Kat shuffled around nervously. "It could've. He was really lucky that it didn't. I was afraid that he'd been killed the way his Gundam came crashing into the hangar like that."

Howard chuckled. "That's one thing you've got to learn about that kid. He's a lot tougher than he looks. You should know, Kat. He's been through a lot of tough scrapes and survived them all."

"I know. I just can't help but be a little scared for him, though." The blonde answered. "I don't want to lose him. Duo is very important to me, Howard. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"The job of a Gundam pilot is very dangerous. He knows that and so do you." Howard sighed. "This war is an example of why their jobs are so important. They protect the peace in the galaxy. You're job is also important to them. You take care of the damages to their machines and make sure that they function the way their supposed to. In a sense, you take care of _them_."

Katarina became distraught at hearing this. Howard's last comment had somehow struck a nerve. "I realize that, Howard. I just don't want Duo to end up like Tetsuya. What would I do then? The Gundam pilots have plenty of enemies."

The old man was losing patience with the conversation. "You'll survive. You'll find Duo and you'll rescue him. That's what Cassie is doing right now. You've seen what a hard time she's having. You're just as strong as she is, so you could survive if you had to. I have faith in you." He told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You're right, Howard, as usual." Kat said. "I'm glad you talked some sense into me."

"What do you expect? I was with Duo for quite a while and you know from experience that he's not the most rational person at times. I've had to straighten him out on quite a few occasions."

It was Kat's turn to giggle. "Yes, I know. Duo's not the straightest thinker sometimes. That's okay, though. I wouldn't have him any other way."

"What is this about me not being the straightest thinker?" came a voice from behind them.

The two turned around to see Duo with a bandaged head and quite a large smile on his face. Kat squealed as she threw her arms around his neck. The brunette laughed as he returned the hug and winked at Howard over her shoulder. "So what were you two talking about?"

"Oh nothing." Howard said innocently, trying his best to look the part. "Just discussing the repairs on the Deathscythe."

"Well, in that case, I can help finish up." Duo said brightly.

Kat pulled away to look at him with a severe expression. "I don't think so. You can sit and watch while I replace all the circuits and stuff."

Duo pouted as he moved to follow her toward his Gundam. "Aw, but Kat! I haven't done anything for two days. I really want to help!"

"I'm almost done, Mr. Maxwell. You wouldn't be much help to me getting dizzy and falling out of the cockpit. Besides, you can admire the body work while you sit there."

Howard laughed as he watched the two walk off toward the Deathscythe. They were both good kids and he prayed that nothing happened to either of them. He also prayed that wherever Cassie was, she was safe.

...

"Sir we've picked up movement on one of the security cameras."

The brown-haired man's eyes furrowed in concentration as he leaned over the surveylance officer's shoulder to get a better look. The feminine figure of a brunette was looking around the grounds for what she thought would be a way in. A triumphant grin broke over his face as he stood up straight.

"So, you've brought yourself right to me, Cassandra. I have no doubt that Katarina had a hand in helping you as well as that troublesome Fujiyama. No matter. I'll have Camui's reason to keep fighting right within my hands."

The officer turned around to look at his ranking officer in question. "Your orders, sir?"

"Send out security. Have her picked up right away and make sure that no one sees them. It'll be your heads if there are witnesses."

"Yes, sir!"

...

Lady Une had called a meeting about Cassie's recent disappearance. Kat couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty. She'd given her the tools and the passwords to get the information that she wanted. She remembered the conversation that she'd had over the phone with the other woman several days ago quite well.

_ The ringing of her cell phone caused her to jump as she turned off the welding torch and raised the goggles from her eyes. Seeing that it was the call she'd been waiting for, she quickly answered it._

_ "Hello?"_

_ "Kat, it's Cassie."_

_ "Cassie!" she exclaimed, quickly looking around to make sure that no one had heard her. "What are you doing? Where are you?"_

_ "L4-YN03031. I'm looking for a way in. It's strange, I haven't found any sort of patrol out here."_

_ "Colony L4-YN03031? How did you figure that one out?" the blonde asked._

_ "I didn't." Cassie said bluntly. "I got a call from an old aquaintance."_

_ "Old aquaintance?" she asked, getting more confused._

_ There was a pause from Cassandra's side. "Aya. He somehow got my number and told me where Orion was hiding. He apparently escaped from Anubis and went into hiding."_

_ "Aya." Kat whispered. "Do you think he'll try to get back in touch with us?"_

_ "I'm not sure, Kat. He might. Anyway, I have to go. I've stayed on the line too long. I'm sure Zechs and Howard are going crazy. Tell them I'm fine and I'll see them both again soon."_

_ "Will do. I won't tell them where you are until I absolutely have to."_

_ "Thanks, Kat. I hope to be in and out by that time. Good luck."_

_ "You too, Cassie. Please, stay safe."_

_ The line was dead the next moment as she stuffed the phone back in her pocket. It was several minutes before she started up her work again. Things were starting to spin out of control and the gears of fate had picked up speed._

As she entered the room, the occupants were silent as they watched her take her seat. Zechs was giving her a cold glance as they made eye contact. Lady Une was also watching her quite closely.

"If I'd known it was going to be this cold, I'd have brought my jacket." The blonde mumbled from between Duo and Quatre.

"Let me get straight to the point." Lady Une said briskly. "Cassandra's disappearance is due to help she received from one of you here." She peered down the table at Katarina. "Miss Winner, what did you give her?"

"What do mean what help did I give her? I gave her access to my laptop. That was all." Kat replied coldly, staring back at her.

Heero looked over to her. "The program I installed on your computer is able to track any phone number and time stamp from any part of the planet, colony, or space. You knew that and gave her the password."

"Is this true, Katarina?" Zechs asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes, Zechs, it is." Katarina barked, rising to her feet. "What business of it is yours?"

"You just assisted her to her grave, Katarina!" the blonde male roared. "You should've known what she was going to do!"

The young woman felt her face getting hot with anger. "I did know! She came to me crying, Zechs, _crying._ She asked for my help and that's what I gave her. She would have done the same for me!"

Zechs also rose to his feet from his place across the table, leaning straight into her face. "You're the most troublesome _mechanic_ I've ever met, Katarina Winner! The damage that you've done could be irreprable! Where did she even go?"

"The damage _I've_ done? If anyone is partially to blame in this, it's _you_! You were selfish enough to give her mixed feelings about the whole thing! You don't understand how she really feels, Zechs! And she went to L4-YN03031 if you must know! Aya contacted her!"

SMACK! She turned her head back to meet his cold gaze, ignoring the throbbing in her cheek. Her eyes burned as Lady Une rose to her feet, rage contorting her features. "ENOUGH! I will not tolerate this childish behavior! Zechs, you're dismissed from the remainder of this meeting. Katarina, you'll be escorted to a holding cell for forty-eight hours as punishment for your actions."

"Don't bother." The blonde growled as she turned on her heel to leave. "I'll escort myself."

Duo rose to follow her from the room when Lady Une stopped him. "We have a meeting to finish, Maxwell, and you _will_ remain here until it is concluded."

Howard sighed as he rubbed his temples. Things were spiraling out of control. If there wasn't peace amongst themselves, how could they ever dream of winning this war?

Meanwhile, Wufei was having an internal battle, therefore tuning out the rest of the meeting. He felt partially to blame in this whole dilema for some unexplained reason. He felt that perhaps he should go after Cassandra. At any rate, they could possibly make peace if she were to come back and they could come out of this war victorious. He would have to leave with no one seeing him and without a Gundam. He couldn't risk the Altron falling into Orion's hands. A smirk was fighting to curl his lips. The Chinese man thought he knew of a way to get off the lunar base without being discovered. To Wufei, there was only one possible choice. He would leave that evening to try and recover Cassandra. L4-YN03031 was his destination.

...

Duo leaned against the bars of the holding cell. Katarina had been fairly quiet since his arrival. He couldn't decide if she was sulking or if the shock of the blow Zechs had delt her had yet to wear off. The brunette sighed.

"You're going to have to speak to me sometime. I only have a thirty minute pass."

"I don't regret what I did. Cassie would've done the same thing for me if the roles had been reversed. She loves Camui that much." Kat commented in a defensive manner.

"I didn't say you were wrong. I understand your thinking actually. What I wanted to talk to you about _is_ related to the subject though." He had the blonde's attention. "I want to talk about what you're going to do if something similar should happen to me."

"Now, Duo—"

"No, don't interrupt. I've been thinking about this for a while now and it's time to get it off my chest. If I were to be a POW, I wouldn't want you to come after me. I'd go crazy worrying about you getting yourself killed trying to get to me."

Kat was now against the bars next to him gazing up at his severe expression. "Duo, you can't expect me to sit still if you were to be captured. I couldn't do it. If I thought I could help you, I would definitely try."

Duo shook his head. "No, Kat. I've gone to one of the legal hands on the base and had a will drawn up this afternoon. I'm leaving the salvage yard on L4 to you along with everything else. The Deathscythe will belong to you as well. I left you a copy of the will in your quarters."

"This is how you feel then. I'll go by what you say, but damn it, Duo, I will come after you. I will. You can't stop me."

The brunette released a defeated sigh. "I should've known you'd be this stubborn. I can't argue with you right now. I just don't have the heart to. I'll try to come back and see you tomorrow. Try not to go crazy in this cell."

"Believe me," the blonde laughed, "I'm not going to go crazy. You can call me later, though. I managed to sneak my cell phone past the entry guard."

Duo leaned between the bars to kiss her. "You're a little sneak. I knew I taught you something."

...

Katarina stared out of the window in her cell at the barren wasteland of the moon. She'd never been out in a suit, but she imagined that it was cold out there. Glancing at the clock on her cell phone, it read five minutes to midnight. She just couldn't find it in herself to sleep. The conversation that she'd had with Duo earlier had been swirling around in her brain for quite some time. He'd been so serious all of a sudden. He'd even drawn up a will. Did he think things were going to get that bad?

The vibrating of the device in her hand brought her out of her thoughts. Looking at the caller id, the name came up restricted with no number. Her eyebrows furrowed as she flipped her phone open.

"Hello?"

"Kat?"

The voice sounded familiar. "Speaking. Who is this?"

"It's Aya. Look, I don't have much time."

The blonde blinked. "Aya? What do you want?"

The redhead obviously noticed the coldness of her voice, for he took a moment to reply. "I called to warn you. Orion is about to make a big move."

"A big move? What kind of big move?"

"Anubis is planning to capture Cassandra. He hopes to keep Camui under his thumb using her as leverage. He's mounting an all out attack against the lunar base knowing that there's no way for the Preventers to escape."

"Aya, how did you find all this out? You escaped from Orion, right?"

"Listen, Katarina. Anubis is going to try and come after you to hurt me." He paused for several seconds before continuing. "He's got some secret weapon that he's sending in with the invasion force. I wasn't able to find out what it was."

Kat swept her bangs behind her ear and licked her lips, trying to process this new information. "Why are you telling me this? You shot me on orders from Anubis and now you're telling his secrets."

Aya sighed on the other end. "I don't want you to get hurt. I was supposed to kill you, but I didn't. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm giving you this information so that you have time to warn the Preventers and time to get out. I know that Duo would never let anything happen—"

"I know he wouldn't. He's already forbid me to come after him if he happens to be captured." She snorted in a bemused manner. "He seems to think this situation is dangerous enough to draw up a will."

"Things are only going to get worse from here on out, Kat. Much worse. Anubis has figured out a way to improve the Cerberus System to keep a tighter grip on Camui. Zechs won't be so lucky this time, even with the Tallgeese III helping him." There was a pause. "I've been on the line too long. Take care of yourself. Leave now, if you can. I won't let anything happen to you as long as I can help it because I love you, Kat."

Then the line went dead. Katarina closed her phone and took up her vigil once more staring into the starry black canvas of space outside her window. Aya had made contact with her despite the fact that he was wanted by both Preventer and Orion; Preventer for the assassination attempt on her life and Orion for his wanting to spare it. If her former assistant was throwing caution into the wind, then the attack was coming soon. She rose from her cot and began pacing the floor, flicking her blonde ponytail back over her shoulder.

"Hey."

Kat turned to see the last person she would expect standing on the other side of the bars. "Heero, what are you doing in the detention block?"

"I bugged your phone by request of Lady Une. She wanted to know if and when Cassandra called you again."

Meeting the perfect soldier's icy stare, she exhaled swiftly. "Then you know I got a call from Aya."

"Hn. Affirmative. Anubis has upgraded the Cerberus System for the Diabolos Gundam for the next attack. I suppose he's meaning this to be the final battle."

"I guess so." She nodded. "If my phone was bugged, you meant for me to keep it in my cell. I'm also guessing that you taped the conversation."

"You guessed right." Heero replied, his voice its usual even monotone.

"Then I'm going to give you a mission, Heero Yuy, if you should choose to accept it. Take that tape to Lady Une immediately and make sure the Deathscythe is fully functional. We're going to need all the mobile suits we have to make it out of this one!"

Heero gave a curt nod and answered, "Objective confirmed. Mission accepted."

...

End Chapter


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

_January 3, AC 198_

_ Speech upon speech was given to the hundreds of soldiers and civilians that filled the room, but Cassandra never listened to a word spoken. She didn't care about the words because, in her mind, they meant nothing. They would never relay to the world how wonderful a man Tetsuya Camui had been._

_ Cassandra stood in that room for a few minutes longer and finally fled the scene, Juun watching her as she made her escape. She didn't stay to see the crowd leave roses on a grave that had no body, no ashes, merely a name on a marble plaque. She couldn't stand to be there, surrounded by all of those people. She couldn't handle the crowd and all of the formality. How could she, when all she wanted to do was break down and cry, to scream up at the stars that had drawn him up and out of her life._

_ "I hate you," Cassandra whispered later that very night as she dropped to her knees in front of the tombstone, surrounded by hundreds of roses. "I hate you for taking him from me. I hate him for breaking his promise," She turned her eyes down to the marble headstone and sobbed as she fell forward, burying her face in her hands in the grass. "You promised you would come back. You promised…I hate you…"_

_ "Cassie," Juun whispered from behind her, his voice cracking. "Cassie, you don't mean that," He dropped to his knees behind her and reached around her waist, pulling her back upright and against his chest. "You don't mean that, Cassie,"_

_ "How could he, Juun? How could he? He promised!"_

_ He wrapped his arms tight around her shoulders and held onto her, closing his eyes as he felt her tears dripping onto his hands. Her heart was pounding away in her chest and her breath was labored as she sobbed. The grief and the anguish she was feeling was so intense it brought tears to his eyes as well. So much had been lost and sacrificed in the name of peace so many times. Would it ever last more than a year or was it going to become tradition to have a battle during Christmas every year?_

_ "First Tal…now Camui…"_

_ "Shh," Juun cooed as he rested his head against hers. "Don't, Cassie…"_

_ "I just don't get it any more, Juun. What's the point of fighting for peace if all of the good men die?"_

_ "I don't know, sweetheart. I don't know,"_

_ "It's not fair, Juun,"_

_ "I know it's not. We all miss him,"_

_ "I want him back,"_

_ Juun just hugged her close, taking a deep, steady breath. "I know that, too,"_

...

Cassandra stood in the middle of the busy park and folded her arms over her chest. Her cell phone was gone, dumped off at the spaceport and ignored. At this point, if she had it on her, Anubis probably wouldn't bring her within a hundred meters of Camui. If she didn't have it on her…she didn't have any way to communicate with Preventer. Not that it mattered, she'd already given Kat all of the information she needed to. If all went well, Preventer would be here sooner than Anubis would be able to prepare for.

Unless he was already prepared…

"Well aren't you quicker than I thought," Cassandra muttered as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye that was oddly suspicious. That man…he'd been following her for the last thirty minutes. "He knows I'm here. Well, fine."

Cassandra turned back down the walkway and moved at a brisk walk, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. The streets here were too crowded, Anubis wouldn't want to make a public scene right now, especially not after Preventer's latest broadcast, so she rounded a corner at the end of the path and headed to a more secluded area.

The man followed her. When she stopped in the middle of an empty garden, the man stopped, too. She smiled a little as she turned her head to look at him. Just a kid really, but there was a cruelty hidden in the sly smile he gave her that made her a little tense. Just what was Anubis doing to twist a person's heart like that?

"Cassandra Matthews,"

"That would be me," Cassandra muttered as she turned toward him completely, pulling her hands from her pockets to reveal that she was unarmed. When three other men, all slightly older, stepped into their secluded area of the garden and blocked all of the possible exits, Cassandra snorted and shook her head. How elated was Anubis that she was here? He clearly wasn't going to take any shortcuts in her capture. He wouldn't want to give her even the smallest chance of escaping. When the four men just stared at her with sly, nasty smiles, she lowered her arms.

"Well? Are you going to take me into custody or not?"

"Little mousey wants to be caught,"

"I wouldn't be here otherwise." Cassandra muttered as she turned and glared over her shoulder at the man who had made the comment. "I believe Mr. Tans and I have an appointment,"

"That would be correct," The man's smile widened for a moment as he slowly approached her. "However, he told us to take our time, to have a little fun with you before we brought you in. You're injured, aren't you? Probably wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight right now, even if you wanted to."

"You want to put money on that observation? I really wouldn't, if I were you," Cassandra said as the other three men began to converge on her as well. Just what kind of 'fun' were these goons intending to engage in? She glanced at the younger man and knew, just by that nasty glint in his green eyes, exactly what their intentions were. When the one closest to her reached toward her injured side, her left arm shot forward and blocked the motion, then her fingers curled around his wrist and she jerked his arm back over his shoulder until she heard the bone snap from dislocation. The man cried out and she shoved him away from her, glaring at the other men as they stopped their approach.

"You little bitch!"

"Did you really think I didn't know how to fight?" chuckled Cassandra as she looked down on the man she'd just effectively injured. "Consider into your calculations, if you would, that I've been under the employ of Preventer for the last year with close interaction with all five Gundam pilots, as well as Zechs Merquise and the former Colonel Une. Add into that the fact that Tetsuya Camui taught me how to fight long before," and she turned toward the younger boy now, "you even hit puberty. What are you, kid? Sixteen? Seventeen?"

The boy's jaw twitched but he said nothing as Cassandra took a step back from the injured member of their party.

"He should probably get some medical attention for that shoulder," suggested Cassandra. "As I was saying before, I have an appointment with Mr. Tans,"

...

"Dr. Po? I have the rest of the reports from the physicals,"

Sally looked up from her monitor at the nurse and smiled softly. "Thanks, I'll take those off your hands now," As the nurse handed them over and slipped out of her office, Sally looked down at the file on the top, her eyes narrowing at the sticky note stuck to the front of the folder.

_Dr. Po,_

_ You'll want to take a second look at Matthews' file. _

She blinked as she opened the file, sat back in her chair and went over the results. She didn't see anything unusual at all. Everything seemed to pan out perfectly. No high blood pressure, no abnormal sugar or chemical levels. Even the urinalysis was clear.

Sally gasped suddenly, her eyes going wide. Cassandra's latest physical had only one noticeable change, and Sally felt her hands shaking as she set the folder down on her desk and stared at it. Cassandra and Zechs had grown close, and while no one was stupid enough to think the two hadn't slept with each other, no one had really thought they'd done so more than a few times. And part of the physical questionnaire covered sexual activity, to which Cassandra had said, truthfully, not in the last four months. Zechs' report was much the same.

And yet, there it was, plain as day at the very end of the report; a positive result for pregnancy.

It startled her because she'd known Zechs for enough years now that she knew for certain the man had used protection. He'd always done so, according to Noin, when they had briefly shared each other's company. She didn't think Zechs would let that slip, meaning they must have gotten their hands on some faulty "equipment".

Sally reached for her phone and dialed the direct extention for the hangar, feeling her hands shake, her nerves firing, as she waited for the phone to be answered. How the heck was she supposed to tell him?

_"Yo, it's Katarina!"_

"Kat, it's Sally. Is Zechs down there?"

_"Yeah. Having a bit of a heated argument with Tallgeese at the moment. I'm really surprised no one else can hear the yelling,_"

Kat sounded very agitated, so Sally got very quickly to the point. "I need to talk to Zechs immediately. Can you send him up to sickbay? It's really important,"

_"Of course!"_

"Thank you, Katarina,"

_"Hey, you're welcome. Zechs!"_ Katarina hung up the phone and Sally, instead of relaxing, became even more nervous. Seriously, how the heck was she supposed to break the news to him?

...

The lobby of the eighty story Orien Technologies building was a busy blur of men and women in business suits, with several uniformed men coming and going from the elevators. The group of men escorting Cassandra to the security desk were being incredibly descreet, except for the whining man she'd injured earlier, who kept making quiet moaning noises, of which she was sure were meant to make his comrades feel sorry for him.

"Sign your guest in please," The security officer muttered from behind the desk, not raising his attention from the clipboard in his hands. Once the younger of the group signed Cassandra's name to the paper and slid it to the security officer, the man finally looked up and stared into her face. Cassandra's jaw twitched a little. She recognized him, and from what she could tell, he damn sure recognized her as well, but he said nothing as he took the sheet and examined the name they had written down.

"Sarah Dawson, is it? Yes, I see. I have a scheduled appointment on floor eighty with the boss man. Secretary just called down a few moments ago. Elevator seven please. Here's her visitor pass,"

"Thanks," The boy took the pass and clipped it to the collar of Cassandra's jacket. The woman just shrugged and, as they turned away toward the elevator, gave the guard a sharp look that had him sweating. As they stepped inside the designated elevator, the guard grabbed the phone, hit an external line and hastily dialed a quick number.

_"Operator,"_

"Code nine, Preventer," The officer said hurriedly, glad when the operator quickly switched him over. After two short rings, he sighed in relief. "Lady Une's office, please. A code nine, yes,"

Another long moment of silence followed and then, quite abruptly, _"This is Une,"_

"Lady, this is Jack Harkness. I'm not sure if you remember me but-"

_"I remember you, Lieutant Harkness. I understand you have a code nine?"_

He hesitated for a moment then continued quietly. "Orien Technologies building. Zone four, block seventeen, L3-YN03031. Cassandra Matthews was just escorted in."

_"How did you know to contact me, Harkness? How do you know who she is?"_

"His Excellency made sure I knew who to contact in case of trouble. And Tetsuya Camui was a comrade. He introduced her to me many years ago. I'm wise enough in my age to know when a woman is being held against her will. She's here, Lady. You can send in the calvary,"

_"Understood. Harkness, have you ever considered becoming a Preventer?"_

"Ma'am, they don't call me Rain for nothin'. You could say I was one of the first under his Excellency's employ. If I find out anything more, I'll contact ya,"

...

Lady Une hung up the phone and stared across the desk to Howard who was standing expectedly in front of her.

"Well?"

"She's alive. It looks like Orion was under our noses the whole time. Their base of operations is the Orien Technologies building. I trust you can research the company? It's been around for a while,"

"Ai, I'll get together what I can." Howard muttered as he headed for the door.

"Howard," Lady Une called, stopping his progress. "Howard, did Treize confide in you about-"

"Treize had few secrets, Lady, but those he did have were shared with the people he most trusted. I'm honored to say I was once one of those he trusted, even with his legacies."

Lady Une relaxed and gave him a curt nod as Howard opened the door and vanished. So Howard had known after all. She turned toward the window and stared out across the bleak landscape of the moon, toward the distant stars and the shadow of the Earth. Mariemeia had been different, she'd been influenced by Dakim Barton at a very young age, that's why she had thought what she had done was what Treize would have wanted. Cassandra, on the other hand, had been raised by Howard, had been on her way to marrying Tetsuya Camui, one of Treize's closest and greatest friends. And she was older, wiser.

"What would you think of her now, Treize? I'm afraid I failed you again. Watch over her, Treize."

...

Sally groaned as Zechs knocked on the open door to her office and came inside, looking a little red in the face from whatever argument he'd been having with Tallgeese. She'd been hoping he would have taken his time getting to sickbay, but then she _had_ told Katarina that it was an emergency.

"You wanted to see me, Sally?"

She sighed and rubbed her face tiredly before she got up, strode across the room and closed the office door.

"You may want to sit down," started Sally, still nervous and unsure of how to word her next statement.

"What's wrong?"

"The physicals reports just made their way to my desk,"

Her tone made Zechs tense and he looked away from her for a moment. "My heart?"

She paused, startled, then quickly shook her head. "No, no, your results were right there with Heero's as usual. It's not you, it's Cassie. Zechs, I really don't know of a gentler way to say this so I'm just going to say it. Her physical results show she's pregnant,"

"_What?_"

"If the questionnaire you both answered is any indication, I'd say well into her second trimester,"

"How?" Zechs demanded as he fell into the chair behind her desk. "You would have known weeks ago, Sally, when she was stabbed. Wouldn't you?"

"No," admitted Sally as she walked back toward him and braced her hands on her desk. "I was focused on treating her wound and making sure she stabilized. Since the wound wasn't deep and hadn't hit any vital organs or arteries, we stitched her up and sent her on. I wasn't looking for anything else, so I didn't even think to look beyond her injury. Besides, she'd said you two hadn't…well, you know…in a few weeks."

"Yes, but…" Zechs reached out and took the file folder from atop the stack on her desk, not caring about the doctor patient privilege or the legal ramifications of ignoring that particular rule. He looked over the report and sighed heavily. "We only engaged a few times over the course of the last year, and not until she'd been here at least four or five months. The last time was four months ago."

Sally nodded. "That's what the questionnaire said. Zechs, didn't you use-"

"Of course,"

"I figured as much. You must have gotten your hands on some faulty equipment,"

Zechs snorted and shook his head as he tossed the file back onto the desk. Why did everyone always feel the need to dance around the subject with him? He wasn't some prissy prig nobleman who blanched when anyone said the word 'sex' or 'condom'. Yet he could understand Sally's reluctance to say either word. She was a friend, and as a friend (doctor or not), she couldn't bring herself to associate those words with him, because it made her uncomfortable.

Regardless of that, the fact of the matter was that Cassandra was pregnant, making her situation so much worse. Add to that the fact that she hadn't had time to properly heal from the knife wound she had suffered, which he knew had been further aggravated by the rough trip into space with the Tallgeese.

"What are the chances the child will survive, Sally? She hasn't had any pre-natal care, plus the ride in Tallgeese, the knife wound, the stress. I can't even begin to imagine what might be done to her now that she's gone after Camui. What are the chances she'll come out of this in one piece?"

"Miniscule at best," murmured Sally as she sank into the chair in front of her desk. "Like you said, we didn't know, so she hasn't had any care with regards to the pregnancy, and after the stress and her injury, I'm not holding my breath. And I'm not happy to have to say that,"

"Do you think she knows?"

"I don't know, Zechs. If the baby is alive, she'll know soon. Damn it, I joked with her the other day that she'd gained a couple of pounds. I'm so stupid! I should have known to check when I made the joke,"

Zechs reached across the desk and clamped his hands over her wrists. "Don't do that. Neither one of us can afford to harbor guilt or regrets now. Cassandra has made her choice, whether she knows about the pregnancy or not, it's too late now. We just need to focus on getting her back here safe and sound, and on putting an end to Orion. Cassandra's tough, and she'd do anything for the people she loves. She's gone after Camui with every intention of coming home,"

"I know," Sally murmured as Zechs released her wrists and stood up. "It doesn't make me feel any less sorry,"

"Think how Katarina's going to feel when she finds out," Zechs offered as he opened the door and looked back over at her. "Thank you for telling me, Sally,"

...

The ride in the elevator up to the eightieth floor was a quick one, yet it felt like it took forever. Being this close to finding Camui set her nerves on fire, and since she didn't know quite what to expect from Anubis once she came face to face with him, the uncertainty had made time drag.

The silver doors slid open to reveal a posh looking lobby that was deserted, save for one young woman sitting behind a large desk in the immediate center. She glanced up at them and quickly rose from her chair, hurrying across the carpet to the large oak doors to the right of her desk. She knocked once and the door opened swiftly. Two young men stepped out and motioned for Cassandra and her captors to go inside the office. When she was shoved, she shoved back, then slipped between the guards at the door to get into the office on her own.

Her captors, as well as the two guards at the door, quickly followed and the door closed behind them. Anubis was standing at the window, a glass of wine in his hand. He swirled the dark liquid for a momet, staring down onto the colony absently.

A pained whimper behind her made her roll her eyes. "The man-child behind me needs medical attention. I may have dislocated his shoulder when he tried to get a little grabby,"

Anubis laughed quietly as he turned and faced her. "My, Cassandra, how feisty you still are. You four, you're dismissed. Go see Dr. Sloan about that shoulder. Logan and Cameron can handle her detail from here,"

Cassandra crossed her arms over her chest as her four-man escort finally left the room. "Where's Tetsuya?"

"In his holding cell, resting," Anubis chuckled as he poured a second glass and offered it to her, sighing dramatically when Cassandra knocked it out of his hand. "All right, all right. Cameron, would you mind retrieving our dear friend? Miss Matthews would like to see him,"

"Heh, sure," The smaller of the two men grinned and headed for the book case at the other end of the room. He pulled down on the spine of a book and then vanished into the elevator revealed in the passage beyond. Cameron grinned and waved at her as it began its descent.

"It'll take at least fifteen minutes for him to get back. In the meantime, why don't you have a seat? Since you're here, we might as well engage in negotiations,"

"There's nothing to discuss. And Preventer doesn't negotiate with terrorists. I came here for Camui," Cassandra glared at him as he refilled the second glass of wine and offered it to her again.

"No wine? Fine then, how about something a little stronger? Scotch? Whiskey? Tequila?" Anubis set the wine glasses down on his desk and moved to a small shelf to her right that held several different decanters of liquor, indicating with the index finger of his left hand which ones were which. Cassandra ignored him.

"I see, you're not thirsty then," Anubis shrugged and moved back to his desk, grinning as he sat down in the overstuffed leather chair and clasped his hands over his stomach. Now that he wasn't moving around, Cassandra was able to get a better look at him. He hadn't changed much since the last time she'd seen him. The shaggy brown hair, the entrancing green eyes, even the sly smile was much the same. He was tall, with a slim build, and always wore the clothes that hugged his body in just the right way. His posture and attitude exuded money, yet he wore no jewelry, not even a watch.

He was older now, probably in his early fifties, yet he didn't look a day over forty.

"I'm glad to see that you've recovered from your injuries well. That Sally Po is one heck of a physician, don't you think?" Anubis smiled again. "Come on, Cass, open that beak and gobble a bit. It'll get quite boring in here if we don't liven up the conversation a bit, don't you think? Tell me, how's Katarina?"

"She's fine," Cassandra smiled as she pressed her hands against the hard surface of his desk and leaned toward him. "Your little assassination attempt failed,"

Now Anubis leaned forward, grinning even wider. "Maybe so, but it won't matter in the end, darling. My army out numbers Preventer, twenty two to one. Regardless of your best efforts, Katarina will die, just like the rest of your friends at Preventer. I am, however, thinking about sparing Heero's life for a little while. I have some interesting plans for Vice Foreign Minister Darlain that I would love for him to bare witness to. If you get my drift," Anubis winked and Cassandra leaned away from him, disgusted.

"You're sick,"

"I'm a man with needs, dear. What can I say?" he laughed quietly. "As a matter of fact, I caught a glimpse of Katarina at the ball that night. She's quite a beautiful woman. Maybe I should spare Maxwell as well?"

Cassandra moved as if she were about take a swing at him, but Logan reached out and grasped her arm at the elbow, yanking her back several feet, much to her displeasure.

"Now, now, mousey. I can't allow you to take such irrational actions toward the boss here," Logan grinned at her as she tried to wrench her arm free of his hold. "She's a tough one, boss!"

"How bothersome," Anubis grunted as he pushed out of his chair and came around his desk toward them. Logan jerked Cassandra backward, hard, and grasped her other arm, effectively restraining her against his broad chest while Anubis reached out with a gentle hand and touched her cheek. "You've grown into quite the beautiful woman yourself, Cassandra,"

"Go to hell!" Cassandra snapped, trying to fight free of Logan's hold when Anubis stepped a little closer.

"My dear, this _is_ hell, and I rule here." He leaned in ever closer to her, but the elevator had returned and drew his attention away. "Ah, here we are!"

Cameron emerged from the elevator, pulling a very exhausted, yet struggling Camui in by the arm. The second they stepped into the room and he saw her being restrained by Logan, he jerked himself free of Cameron's hold, but the man kicked out and sent Camui onto the carpet.

"Tetsuya!" Cassandra tried to jerk free of Logan's hold again as she watched Camui climb back to his feet.

"Let her go!"

"You heard the man, Logan," Anubis chuckled. Logan just smiled and released Cassandra, who stepped away from him and rubbed her sore wrists.

"It's Logan, right?"

"Heh, yeah,"

"Well, Logan. Today is your lucky day," she muttered, folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh yeah? How's that?"

Cassandra smiled sweetly at him. "Because, today's the day a woman's finally going to touch you in your special spot," Before anyone could react, Cassandra grabbed him by the shoulders and buried her knee in his groin, sending the red faced brute into the carpet in pain. As he fell, she lurched forward and grabbed his gun, but Anubis had reacted faster than she had anticipated. His own gun was aimed at her back now, and he was shaking his head sadly. Cameron had restrained Camui as well, who stared at the scene with wide, angry blue eyes.

"I should have known you'd try something stupid. Put the gun down, Cassandra,"

Breathing heavily from adrenaline, Cassandra released her hold on the gun and brought her arms slowly to her sides away from the weapon.

"Now, get up," barked Anubis, his gun still trained on her as she slowly rose from her kneel on the ground. The second she was upright again, he grabbed her right side and dug his fingers into the wound that was still trying to heal. She cried out in pain and bent double, but he threw his other arm around her waist and held her upright while he dug his fist harder against her side.

"Cassie! Let her go! Yameru!" Tetsuya cried as he saw blood beginning to stain Cassandra's shirt as Anubis applied even more pressure.

"Pull a stunt like that again and you won't live long enough to hold him in your arms again, Cassandra," Anubis crooned in her ear, loving the way her body trembled in his arms. He especially loved the strangled sound of her voice, the way she struggled to draw a full breath. Even the tears streaming down her cheeks perked his mood. Her full weight now rested against his arm and he was happy to let her fall to the ground in pain. She hit her knees and her right hand immediately went to her side to stem the bleeding.

"You…you stupid son of a bitch," She croaked as she tried to catch her breath and stared into the dizzying pattern of the carpet.

"Cassie!" Camui's voice sounded strained and angry and he gave a cry of frustration when Cameron's hold on him didn't lessen.

Anubis swept his brown hair from his face and growled down at Cassandra's shaking form.

"You are going to be a bigger pain in the ass than I had anticipated, Cassandra. Get up! Get up!" Anubis grabbed her by her arms and hauled her onto her feet, then thrust her forward. Camui finally wrenched himself free of Cameron's hold on him and he dove for Cassandra, throwing his arms protectively around her, preventing her from hitting the floor again.

"Stay away from her!" Camui snapped as Cameron came forward to pull him away again. Anubis just chuckled hatefully.

"Take them both down to the holding cell, and separate them!" Anubis commanded hatefully. "Now, Cameron!"

"Yes, sir!" Cameron reached for Camui who shoved him roughly away. He then pulled Cassandra upright and took her weight, giving her as much support as he could, before he turned them toward the corridor and headed for the elevator, Cameron right on their heels.

"Get off the floor!" Anubis snapped when the elevator doors closed and his prisoners disappeared with Cameron. Logan, still bright red in the face and holding his bruised groin, shakily got to his feet and retrieved his gun.

"She caught me by surprise, boss, I'm sorry,"

"Don't worry about it," Anubis growled. "Go get yourself straightened up. And get the cleaners in here to get the blood out of the carpet. I have a meeting with the C.E.O of Ogata Robotics in the morning and we need to be at our best,"

"Yes, sir!"

...

Once they reached the basement floor where the holding cells were located, Camui allowed Cameron to put them into two adjoining cells, unwilling to risk Cassandra being hurt any further. But once both doors were closed, he scrambled over toward the bars and reached through for Cassandra as Cameron disappeared back up the stairs.

"Cassie? Cassie!"

She grunted from the ground then rolled painfully onto her back, both hands now pressed to her side to stop the bleeding.

"Cassandra!" Camui pressed himself against the bars, tears coming to his eyes as he watched her struggling to take a full breath. "Cassandra, answer me!"

"I…can't!" She muttered, taking a long, deep breath again before she removed one bloodied hand away from her side and wiped the sweat from her face with the back of her arm.

"You stupid woman, why did you do that?"

Cassandra grunted as she rolled over again and pushed herself up onto her knees, quickly sitting on her legs while she regained her lost oxygen.

"Cassie…"

"It was a small price to pay," She finally muttered. Cassandra reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a black flip phone. Camui stared at it in awe. It was Logan's! "I was hoping to get the gun, too, but I was off by a few seconds,"

"You are so stupid!"

"Yeah, thanks," Cassandra muttered as she crawled over to him and threaded her arms through the cell bars, relieved to feel his arms snaking around her.

"What are you even doing here? Why, Cassie? How could you be so stupid?" Camui asked desperately, even as he kissed her through the bars.

"Oh, you idiot, _you_ make me stupid," Cassandra whined as she broke the kiss and began pulling off the jacket. "I wasn't leaving you here alone for another second, and I had a bone to pick with Mr. Tans up there," She gasped as a sharp pain tore through her torso and she stilled for a moment. Finally, as the pain ebbed, she finished pulling off her jacket and tossed it aside. Once that was done, she opened the phone, dialed a call and pressed it to her ear even as she began pulling the light blue shirt she had on away from the slowly drying blood.

"What are you doing?" Camui asked as he reached through the bars again and held the shirt away from her side while she made the call, concerned by the nasty black and blue coloring to her skin beneath the dried blood. "What happened to you?"

"He stabbed me a few weeks ago at the Christmas Ball. Hello? Yes! I need to be connected with Katarina Winner! It's urgent!" Cassandra winced as Camui placed a gentle hand against her side and effectively stopped the bleeding at last. "What? No! I don't care if she's knee deep in cockpit wiring, get her on the phone! Fine, just put an officer on the damn phone!"

There was another pause on the other end of the line before it was finally picked up again.

_"This is Wind,"_

...

"You've got to be kidding me!"

Those gathered in the conference room, Heero included, winced at Lady Une's furious outburst. "If one more person leaves this base without prior authorization, I swear to God, I will kill them myself! And with my bare hands!"

Sally buried her face in her own hands and groaned quietly. "No one even saw him leave. There's no security footage, nothing. Stupid Asians and their ninja skills,"

"That's not funny," Kat muttered, though she was smiling a little. "Look, it's obvious where Wufei went. He went after Cassie."

"Without his Gundam?"

"He obviously had no intention of being caught, otherwise his gundam would have gone with him. If anyone can see Cassie and Camui safely out during the battle, it's Wufei. Whenever we go, we'll put Altron in a transport vessel and make sure she's ready to go when we catch up to them." Quatre said confidently. "Look, at this point our options are running slim. We have to bring the fight to Anubis before he brings it to us. If we wait, we'll be sitting ducks here. No, we need to take everything we've got and head for L4. At least meet him halfway,"

"I agree," Heero said stoically. "It's our best chance of defeating our enemy. What do you think, Zechs?"

"They won't be expecting us to make the first move. Quatre is right. If we start mobilizing now, we'll have the advantage of surprise. They wont be ready for it, and in the time it takes for them to move their troops to meet us, we could easily take out at least a quarter of them before they have a chance to form ranks," Zechs said confidently. "Lady, we're ready. The Gundams are ready, and we have every available mobile suit we could find ready and waiting to go. Not to mention the influx of pilots after Relena's announcement yesterday. If we strike first, we tip the scales in our favor,"

"What about the interlink Cassandra was working on? Is it ready?"

"Yes," Katarina said confidently from her seat at the conference table. "We were just about to put it through a third test when you called the meeting. All of the Gundams have been synced with the system and the passcodes have been set. Une, we're ready,"

"All right, then. Get back down to the hangar and make the final preparations. How long do we need?"

"Three hours, tops!" Katarina leapt out of her chair and bounded for the door, the gundam pilots on her heels. Zechs and Sally lingered for a moment, both wanting to speak to Howard and Lady Une privately.

"What else did you need to discuss?"

Sally glanced at Zechs for a brief moment and he nodded curtly at her. "It's Cassandra," Sally explained, sighing. "She's pregnant and she doesn't know it,"

"Oh, the foolish girl!" Howard moaned and covered his face with his hands. "I'm going to whip her hindend the second she gets back here! I raised her better than this!"

Zechs found himself smiling a little. "She's the way she is because you raised her the right way, Howard. We'll bring her home, I promise,"

"She and Camui both are getting a severe ass whipping. They're the reasons I don't have hardly any hair left!"

There was a knock on the door and a very frustrated looking secretary stepped inside. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a hateful woman on line two demanding to speak to an officer immediately,"

"I'll take it," Zechs muttered as he reached for the phone. "This is Wind,"

_"Oh, thank God! Please tell me you're near a computer!"_

"Cassandra!" Zechs gasped, relieved, as Sally lurched forward and hit the speaker button. "Where are you?"

_"Holding cell in Anubis' base. Look, it's called-"_

"Orien Technologies, we know," Lady Une said as she came around the desk to stand with the group at the phone.

_"Oh, well, now that scuffle with Logan really seems foolish,"_

"What scuffle? What are you talking about? Cassie, are you all right? I can hear that ragged breathing!" Sally accused, worried. "Cassie!"

_"I got into a scuffle with one of Anubis' goons and managed to get my hands on a phone. Look, I don't have much time before the jerk realizes I stole his phone, so listen up! You need to get Relena to Luna and keep her there. Anubis plans to go after her and I don't even want to tell you why, but he mentioned Katarina, too, so make sure she stays on the maintenance cruiser and goes nowhere near-OWE! Damn it, Camui, that hurt!"_

"Is he lucid?" Sally demanded, hearing the surprising shout from Cassandra. "Cassie!"

_"Yes, sorry! He's lucid and fussy."_

_ "I'm trying to stop the bleeding!"_

Zechs and Sally both tensed when Camui's frustrated voice was heard in the background.

"What bleeding, Cassandra?" Zechs demanded, leaning closer to the phone. "Cassandra, damn it, focus!"

_"It's hard to focus right now, baka! Yes, bleeding. Bastard reopened my side, but I'm all right. Listen, you need to find a way to contact Aya and get-"_

"Aya Fujiyama? The bastard that tried to kill Katarina?"

_"So much for making this quick. Yes! That Aya! He missed Katarina's vital organs on purpose and Anubis planned to have him killed before he somehow escaped. You need to find him! He can help with-ah crap…"_

There was a loud banging noise and a moan of pain in the background, followed by faint wretching noises that made everyone flinch for a moment.

"Cassie? Cassie!" Zechs shouted in a panic. "Cassie, answer me!"

There was another scuffle in the background and then Camui said hurriedly, _"She got sick!"_

"That's Tetsuya!" Howard shoved Zechs out of the way. "Tetsuya, it's Howard! Listen to me very carefully. Cassandra is pregnant. She doesn't know, but she is pregnant."

Now Sally shoved Howard out of the way. "Tetsuya, this is Sally Po, I'm Cassandra's doctor. Listen to me, how sick is she? Is she vomiting?"

_"Hai,"_

The reply was a breathless one, which made Sally slightly nervous. "Is she having any kind of stomach cramps at all? Anything not related to the wound on her side?"

There was a long pause where they were sure the phone had been set down, as well as hushed, worried voices, before the phone was picked up again.

_"I'm fine!" _Cassandra was back on the line, but she sounded out of breath again. _"Listen, just do what I told you to do. Make sure Relena and Katarina are safe and get Heero to find Aya! Someone is coming, I think he's realized I stole his phone,"_

"Cassie, you're pregnant!"

_"Yeah, I kind of got that already. Zechs?"_

"I'm still here,"

_"I'm kicking your ass when I get back. You hear me? I've gotta go,"_

"Cassie, wait! Wufei is coming after you. We don't know what his plan is, but he's disappeared and all we know is that he's headed your way without his Gundam!" Lady Une stared at the phone, worried by the silence.

_"I'll keep an eye out for him! Just get moving!"_

When the line died, the foursome stared around each other, completely stunned.

"I'll go make sure Relena is brought back here immediately," Lady Une grabbed the receiver and began dialing frantically.

"Let's get down to the hangar and help get Tallgeese prepped!" Howard gave Zechs a rough shove toward the door then grabbed Sally's arm. "You get Katarina and distract her with prepping the maintanence cruiser for launch. Make sure she stays on that cruiser!"

"You got it!"

...

When Logan tore through the cell block, threw her door open and snatched the phone out of her hands, Cassandra's back was pressed against the cell bars, and Camui's arms were wrapped protectively around her.

Logan glared at her, then turned up his nose at the faint smell of vomit coming from the toilet within her cell.

"Did the pain get to be a bit too much for you?" Logan grinned. "Serves you right." He braced his hands on his knees and grinned down at her. "And just you wait until the boss takes care of all your friends at Preventer. I'll pay you back for that little knee to the groin,"

"Urosai," Camui hissed, relieved when Logan finally left, dousing the lights as he headed up the stairs. The couple were thrown into darkness. "Cassie?"

"I'm all right," She murmured, curling her fingers around his arms. "Don't worry about me. I'm all right,"

...

Wufei stepped out of the space port and glanced around the busy street. L4-YN03031 wasn't a fully populated colony, but you could hardly tell. The streets were crowded with pedestrians and cars, the place was just as busy as any other colony he'd ever been to.

"Mr. Ogata,"

Wufei glanced to his left at the driver holding the limousine door open for him.

"Your transportation, sir,"

"Thank you," Wufei murmured as he walked forward. No one spared him a second glance. Ogata. An alias he'd come up with shortly before leaving the lunar base after doing a little bit of research on the subject. After Katarina had revealed the whereabouts of Orion's base of operations, it hadn't been hard at all to figure exactly where in the colony he could find them.

"Mr. Tans has expressed his gratitude for your quick response. He is confident that a joint venture between Orien Technologies and Ogata Robotics will help bring the universe a much better future,"

"I'm sure," Wufei murmured, his dark almond eyes closing. Perfect. They didn't recognize him, though he hadn't expected anyone to. He was dressed in a very expensive, very nice suit, steam pressed and perfectly creased. His hair was down from its ponytail and fell in waves around his face. A pair of silver rimmed eye glasses rested at the bridge of his nose, which he pushed up delicately with one finger. A Chinese soldier posing as the son of the C.E.O. of one of the most up and coming Japanese robotic industries, with that certain C.E.O.'s permission of course. Ken Ogata was, after all, one of the leading manufacturers of mobile suit technology in the whole of the universe, and just so happened to be under the current payroll of Preventer. That, obviously, was known to no one other than those that needed to know. Even Ogata's employees and workers had no clue.

Wufei had only happened upon the information by accident while doing his research and only because Quatre had used Ogata's company on several occasions for needs outside of the mobile suit industry. With a stroke of pure luck, Wufei had been able to contact the C.E.O. and arrange this whole scenario.

Mr. Ogata had explained that Wufei's timing couldn't have been more perfect as David Tans, C.E.O. of Orien Technologies, had called and scheduled a meeting between them in order to talk business. After Wufei explained the situation, Mr. Ogata had immediately agreed to allow Preventer to take over. Wufei would pose as Ken Ogata's son, Daisuke Ogata, and find out just what exactly Anubis planned to gain from this venture. Not to mention he'd find Cassandra and Camui and get them both out.

The arrangement had only taken two days. Two days he hoped wouldn't cost them the war.

Then again, Preventer wouldn't waste time once they realized he was gone. The gundams, his included, as well as every single other mobile suit they had would mobilize and be on their way within a few hours. Once they came within range of the colony's radar, Anubis would be too distracted to pay much attention to him. He'd never see it coming.

Wufei took a seat in the back of the limo and grabbed the manila folder that was resting in the seat next to him, flipping through its contents slowly, as if he were interested.

"Mr. Tans believes he has just the thing that will convince you and your father that a merger of your two companies will benefit everyone."

"Yes, so I've been told. A new technology that will completely revitalize the way wars are fought and ultimately save the lives of hundreds of soldiers and mobile suit pilots. My father and I are very interested in finding out just what Mr. Tans has in mind."

"Of course. We will be leaving now. Please enjoy the drive,"

"Hm," Wufei looked back down at the folder in his hands and closed his eyes. It was too late to back out now.

...

End Chapter.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Sitting in the cockpit of the Deathscythe, Katarina growled as she began pulling out the burned and melted wire from the control panel. She could've sworn that she'd used high heat insulator. Damn it. All the time she'd been in the hangar, she'd yet to say a word to Zechs. That asshole didn't know who he was messing with. Allah only knew how angry she still was at him.

As she began clipping the destroyed wires, she was imagining punching Zechs in the face over and over again until he was out cold. It also angered her that Lady Une had called the pilots and Howard into a secret meeting. Duo had been in and out of meetings for the past several days, so he hadn't had a chance to work on the cockpit while she was in solitary confinement. She'd also been informed that there would be a project that she would be called to work on last minute. Katarina was expected to finish it within a few days. Damn that woman and her orders.

Katarina wasn't aware that she'd finished half of the wire pulling until Duo gained her attention. He was looking at her with a serious look on his face and a folder in his hand. The blonde managed to climb down from the cockpit, cursing under her breath. Wiping her hands off on her overalls, she faced the brunette with a focused attitude.

"So I'm guessing that the meeting was a day at the park."

Duo snorted. "Oh yeah." He said, handing her the folder. "We've just been informed that we're going to be equiped with tracking chips."

Kat tried to stifle a giggle. "What? Like a dog?"

"Ha ha. Not quite." Duo replied, sticking his tongue out. "You're going to be the one designing and manufacturing each of them, by the way."

"Why did I see that coming?" Kat sighed. "So what's so special about these chips?"

"Well, Lady Une wants them created with a self-destruct system. If one of us were to be captured, they'd be able to find us and if we were at risk of talking, they'd send a signal to the chip which would send a signal to the brain to shut down."

Katarina felt her jaw drop as she stared at Duo in disbelief. "You're joking. You've got to be."

"Not this time, babe." The brunette shook his head. "As soon as you get done with all five chips, they're going to take us straight into surgery. These things are going to be installed behind our ears and directly into our CNS. It'll be a quick and painless end, if it comes down to it."

"Another security measure." Katarina said in a bemused manner. "Have I mentioned how I'm starting not to like Lady Une very much?"

"That's a new one." Duo mused. "You've got two days to finish these chips or Lady Une will be on your ass. It's getting serious, babe. We're going to be moving out for attack in a few days to meet Orion's forces. Hopefully Wufei can reach Tetsuya and Cassie in time."

"You know what he's planning?"

"No, but I have an idea." He replied. "He's most likely going to try to get on the inside and work from there. I'm not sure what his plan is after that, but I'm sure he has one."

"I can't believe he actually made it out. Lady Une must be pretty upset that he was able to leave without her knowing it. That must be what the chips are for."

Duo laughed. "I don't think that's quite it. She's really adament about this though, Kat. You need to get started on it. I'll finish the wiring on Deathscythe."

Katarina's face grew red with loss of patience. "Fine." She said, pushing the wire cutters into his hands. "Good luck."

With that, she stormed to her office with a confused Duo watching her go.

...

Wufei stood in front of the Orion building feeling slightly more nervous than he ever had in his entire life. He couldn't back out now though. There was a greater task to be done. Shaking his head, he walked through the door. The receptionist peered at him over the rims of her glasses. She glanced at her appointment book before returning her gaze to him.

"Mr. Ogata. I'm here to see Mr. Tans."

"Yes, sir. I'll notify him of your arrival."

Now the wheels were in motion. All he could do now was wait.

...

Wiping the sweat from her brow, pulling an all-nighter had allowed her to finish three of the five chips. Kat picked up the phone to notify Lady Une of what was going on. The older woman sounded pleased and said that she would have Sally pick them up because she would, in fact, be the one doing the installing, as it were.

Not five minutes later, her brother walked through the door. The blonde male held a look of concern as he sat in the chair across from her. When he knew that he'd gained her attention, he began to speak. "Look, Kat, I know that Orion is going to try to attack us here, but while you were in confinement, we decided that it would be best to at least meet Anubis and his men halfway."

"Q, that means you'll have nowhere to go if you sustain heavy damage or injuries." The younger of the two stated bluntly.

"We wouldn't have anywhere to go if they came to us, either. The rest of us left on the lunar base would be in danger as well. It's better if we go."

Katarina shook her head. "Quatre, you don't understand. Anubis is going to come after us one way or another. You'll buy us time if you meet them halfway, but it'll only be a short delay. Anubis is losing his mind. I have a bad feeling that he's going to be making less and less sense as we get closer to the battle."

Quatre tilted his head to the side a bit, examining his sister carefully. "You're really worried about being left behind, aren't you?"

"It's not so much being left behind as it is being left alone." She said, biting her lip. "It's being left alone and none of you come back."

"Look, Katarina Serenity, I've left you in good hands should anything happen to us. Trowa has volunteered to take responsibility for you."

"Take responsibility? I'm not a child, Q."

"I realize that. By responsibility, I meant that it's his job to make sure that you have everything that you need to live a comfortable life. The Winner Corporation would then go to you if something were to happen to me."

Katarina looked at her brother in slight shock. "Me? Run the business? Quatre, that's your job. Father left it to you when he died. I'm not a business person. Besides, how would I run Winner Corp. and the salvage yard on L4?"

Quatre's expression turned grave. "That's why I'm leaving the business to you if I don't make it back. If the Sandrock should be destroyed and I'm killed, you'll have to carry on. You're a strong woman, Kat. You can do it."

"Why does everyone keep saying that!" Kat shouted, slamming her hands down on the desk. "Just because I work with machines doesn't mean I don't have feelings! You and Duo seem to miss the point that you're leaving me everything, but that would mean nothing because I would be devastated! I wouldn't know how to _survive_ without the two of you! Don't you see that you're a huge portion of my life that can't be replaced?"

The blonde male came around the desk and took his angry sister in his arms. "I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be left alone, Kat. You wouldn't be alone, though. You'd still have Sally and Noin and, Allah forbid, Relena. You still have friends. You would survive."

"The way you and Duo have been talking, I've already lost both of you." She replied, shivering. "You better not be able to tell the future too, Q."

The blonde diverted her gaze to the microchips that lay on the desk. She wasn't sure how well these tracking chips were going to work. Katarina definitely wasn't comfortable with building a self-destruct mechanism in them. Since Wufei had already managed to leave the base, that left Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Duo, and Zechs that would be receiving an implant. The blonde jumped at the knock on the door.

"Come in."

Noin pushed open the door with a weak smile on her face. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

Quatre released her and smiled, shaking his head. "I was just going."

She scratched her head as she watched him leave the office but quickly turned back to face Katarina. "I'm here to pick up the chips that you've got finished. Sally had some more prepping to do, so I offered to get them instead."

Katarina put the three small objects in an envelope and moved to hand it to the boyish woman. "Who are the lucky three?"

Lucrezia paused to ponder this question. "Duo, Trowa, and Heero. All voluntary, of course."

"Duo wants to make sure he doesn't fall into the wrong hands. And to think it's all to save that damn braid of his. That jack ass."

"Kill him later. The Romefeller Foundation was gracious enough to donate us some battleships." Noin informed her. "Mechanics and medical staff are required on those."

"What about you?" Katarina asked. "You're surely not going in a battleship."

"Nope, not me. I'm piloting one of the Aries suits with the rest of them." Noin smirked. "Zechs didn't like that idea much, but I told him to shove it."

Kat laughed. "I'm sure you did. Take those damn things to Lady Une. I've got two more chips to make. I might be done with them this evening. When is Duo going in for the installations?"

"In another hour or so. He asked me not to tell you, but he's going first."

"I should've known." The blonde sighed. "I'm going to go work on these other two chips. I'll catch up with you later, Noin."

The dark-haired woman nodded. "Don't work too hard, Kat. We're going to need you on one of those battleships. They're making all chosen mechanics undergo space training so that they may do the repairs during battle."

Kat nodded. "Thanks, Noin. I'll talk to Lady Une about it later."

As the older woman left the office, the blonde returned to her desk and took a seat. She picked up her tools and continued construction on the fourth chip.

...

The sterile decoration of the base's small operating room glared down at him as he lay on the table. A thin paper sheet covered him from the waist down. Sally had explained the procedure in full detail, but that didn't make him feel any better. Not five minutes ago, a nurse had cleaned the site behind his ear and administered the numbing agent. The whole left side of his neck was now devoid of feeling.

Duo tried to make himself comfortable on the stainless steal operating table. He could feel his braid wrapped around behind his head, the very tail of it tickling his arm. The hair style that had almost become an appendage over the years was coming up on three feet in length. The brunette had been told to cut it many a time by his superiors. The thought had never crossed his mind. The last time he'd had it free had been the night before his surgery; the last night he and Kat had spent together. A shadow moved in front of the glaring lamps that were trained on him.

"Well, I think we're ready to start, Duo. Noin just delivered the chip to me. It's whenever you're ready."

The brunette sighed. "Let's get this over with. I'm pretty sure that once this procedure is over and all of us are up to performing again, in about two hours, Lady Une will be ready to give us the 'Let's fight for the Earth Sphere' speech and we'll be ready to fly out."

"You have no idea how right you are." Sally replied. "They're already in the hangar lining the mobile suits into battle formation."

"Great. Kat's going to love this. We're coming to the end of this war and God knows that Anubis isn't going to make it easy. Let's just get this over with, Sally."

The sandy-haired woman nodded as she pulled on her latex gloves and reached for her scalpel. As she made the incision, Duo felt a pressure behind his ear. Sally suctioned away some of the blood so that she could see the nerve she'd be attaching the chip to. Picking the chip up with a pair of tweezers, she held the flesh apart with clamps. The movement of Duo's lashes indicated that he was still blinking and that he wasn't experiencing any sensation that he shouldn't be.

The chip had a little protrusion that was designed to insert directly into the central nervous system. Through that little spike, a message could be relayed to the brain to shut the body down from a central computer in Preventers' headquarters. It had been the decision of the high council to install the chips. There would be no more screw ups like Tetsuya Camui. A former OZ pilot of that calibur was a powerful foe.

Sally exhaled a sigh of relief as she began to suture the incision. Once the stitching was done, she discarded her gloves and began washing her hands before she moved to talk to Duo. "Now, you'll be in recovery for about an hour. You can't move around much until the numbing agent wears off. You're going to be ordered to take it easy until you're called to duty, Duo. I'll let Kat know that you're done and she can come down and see you when she's done with the last of the chips."

"Will do, Sally. I'm going to take myself a nap, I think. This numbing agent is starting to make me sleepy. Remind me why I had to be awake for this?"

"I had to make sure that when I was connecting the chip to your CNS, I didn't short anything off by accident." Sally explained.

"Well, wake me up when I can leave, Sally. I'm going to sleep." Duo mumbled as he was being wheeled into the recovery room.

Sally merely shook her head and put on a clean pair of gloves. A fresh set of tools was placed in front of her. Trowa would be coming in at any moment.

...

Katarina pressed a hand against her chest and took a deep breath, trying to slow her racing heart. The day had gone completely out of whack from the moment Lady Une had called the last meeting and had gone off on them about Wufei disappearing. And Sally had revealed what she'd discovered about Cassandra's health. Everything felt so rushed now. She'd had to hurry to finish Deathscythe's repairs, but she'd managed to get it done in the three hour deadline she'd given herself and now they were ready to go. Or as ready as they could be.

Staring down from the catwalk, Katarina could see the rows and rows of mobile suits ready to launch at the moment's notice. The Gundams were leading the attack. The pilots were all out in front of their machines anxiously watching the front of the hangar. Lady Une was positioned at the head with a podium and a microphone pinned to her lapel. The woman examined every single one of the pilots before she opened her mouth.

"You are all here because you have a desire to protect your planet, your countries, your colonies. You have put your own safety aside in order to protect this planet. I am in front of you today not to tell you that every one of you will come home. I'm not in front of you to say that we have the advantage in this final battle. If nothing else, Orion has the technological advantage." Lady Une paused, inhaling deeply. "I am here to tell you that you're decision to fight has helped to save the people of this world and the colonies. When we fly out of this hangar, know that it is you that is making the difference. It is you who will keep the peace in the galaxy and I personally want to thank you for your help. Ladies and gentlemen, get to your mobile suits. Mechanics and medical staff will follow in the battleships after a twenty minutes delay. The rest of the staff will be evacuated on the cruisers immediately. Go now, Preventers! Free the galaxy from Orion!"

Kat witnessed the silent scuffling of the pilots rising to their cockpits as the hangar doors slid open. A sudden roar filled the air as the thrusters of every single mobile suit prepared to blast out of the atmosphere. The weight of her entire body was perched on the light-weight metal of the railing. She felt her muscles tense as she watched the Gundams begin moving forward toward space. Wing Zero was the first to take flight, followed by Deathscythe, Heavyarms, and Sandrock. The blonde was sure that the contents of her stomach would dislodge themselves if she continued to watch much longer. As she rushed back to her office, the Leo and Aries suits blasted out of the hangar into the darkness of space above.

...

Slamming the door to her office closed, Kat slid to the floor, hiding her face in her hands and twisting her fingers in her hair. There was the possibility that she would lose everything that was important to her. Her breath was refusing to come in anything but short puffs. A burning sensation filled her eyes. The moisture on her cheeks signified that all of her pinned up emotions were breaking free.

Duo would've scolded her if he could've seen her. Her lack of sleep was effecting her emotions. During their brief meeting before his departure, Duo was having a hard time looking her in the face. It was probably because this was making him nervous. He could die and he knew that. Saying nothing was better than saying something that would make the situation worse.

Rubbing her eyes furiously, Katarina rose and pulled her uniform jacket on as she slung her small bag of tools over her shoulder. It was time to get on the battleship. Sally would be on the same ship she was. When she left her office, the base was silent with the lack of noise. All those who were not going on the battleships had been evacuated. She caught up with Sally at the bottom of the stairs.

"What happened after we left the meeting, Sally? Howard and Zechs came careening into the hangar in a panic, and I couldn't catch either of them to find out what was wrong."

Sally sighed quietly. "Zechs and I lingered behind to tell Howard and Une that Cassandra was pregnant and then we got a call from Cassie. She's been injured, but she's all right, and she's with Camui. He was awake and lucid,"

"That's good news!"

"Yeah, but the news Cassie gave us wasn't. Which is why Relena was rushed back to Luna. Look, Lady Une wants me with you on the maintanence cruiser for a reason. Just don't ask any questions and don't do anything stupid!"

"I see. Well, let's get going. The boys are going to need us. Don't worry. Wufei is fine, Sally."

"I know he is. He's a stubborn son of a bitch. He'll survive."

...

An ear-piercing amount of feedback got the attention of every soldier in the area. The loudspeakers flared to life, sending a booming voice throughout the corridors.

"Attention all pilots. Preventers are on their way to attack. Report to the hangars immediately for launch. This is not a drill. Report to the hangars for immediate launch. This war ends tonight."

...

End Chapter


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Relena was waiting in the bridge when Katarina and Sally boarded the command ship and prepped the maintanence cruiser for launch.

"What are you doing, Relena?" Sally asked as she walked up to the younger woman. "We had a security detail set up for you on base! You don't need to be here,"

"Yes, I do," Relena said sternly as the command ship began it's launch sequence. "I've already had this argument with Lady Une over there, and she agreed to let me come along. It's not an argument you can win, Sally, so don't bother. These are my people, my friends, going into battle right now, and I'm going to be here with them to see this through. I don't care that Anubis has threatened my life. I'm standing my ground, just like those men out there are. Just like Cassandra is. Just like you, Katarina."

"Well then, Miss Relena," Katarina reached out and shook her hand. "Welcome aboard!"

...

"Mr. Ogata? Mr. Tans can see you now,"

Wufei looked up from the magazine he'd been staring at then snapped it closed and moved to follow the secretary as she led him down a long corridor and through a set of beautiful oak doors.

"Please, make yourself comfortable. Mr. Tans will be with you in a moment,"

Wufei nodded curtly as the secretary left the room, closing the doors behind her. Preferring not to sit, Wufei walked towards the window and stared down at the busy colony streets eighty stories below. The colony was only fifty years old and still very young. It was heavily populated but there was plenty of room still to grow. He could see the cranes and pillars of construction in the distance and knew there was more around the bend. The residential areas were dense on this side, but probably threadbare on the other side. It wouldn't take long, though, before houses began to sprout up and people began new lives there.

Ten more minutes must have passed before a low hissing noise made Wufei turn his head slight left. There at the far wall of the office, he noticed upon entering, was a door fitted with a pretty expensive and complex security system, requiring card and code to open it. As he looked over ever so slightly, he could see movement as Anubis stepped out from the elevator beyond the door and walked into the room.

"Mr. Ogata, I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long,"

"Not at all," Wufei spoke fluidly, clearly impressing Anubis as the taller man strode towards his desk. "I'm a businessman myself, Mr. Tans. I understand the amount of work that must be done,"

"Then please, call me David,"

"Daisuke," Wufei said as he grasped Anubis' hand and shook it.

"Yes. Good, good."

"My father sent me here on his behalf as he has fallen ill. As he explained, you have a new technology to pitch to Ogata Robotics. From what I've read so far of the reports you've sent to my father, it seems to be a very promising venture. Although, the reports are very vague."

"Yes, I apologize for that, but a man in my position must be very careful. Rival companies, you see." Anubis grinned and ran a hand through his silky brown locks. "I imagine you're very eager to see the product I am pushing?"

"Of course. Anything that could potentially unman the front lines is something my father and I would be very interested in."

"Well," Anubis grinned nastily and motioned towards the door he'd just come in from. "Shall I show you?"

Wufei followed Anubis through the sliding security door, much resembling a blast door from those ancient Star Wars movies, and into the elevator. Anubis keyed in an obscure code and slid his key card and the elevator began it's long, slow descent into the bowels of the building and, he suspected, much deeper into the foundation of the colony than any building built should have been allowed.

"You'll forgive me, but I've had to take great security measures to protect this little project, what with the impending war between Orion and the rest of the living world. I'm hoping this device will help determine who wins. Of course, your company's participation in the endeavor would definitely speed along the process," Anubis glanced at Wufei and smiled. "But I understand your reluctance without proper demonstration. I regret that the demonstration will have to be a short one, but do hope it will be sufficient to convince you and your father that a joint venture will benefit both of our companies,"

Wufei merely nodded, making a small sound of agreement, giving off an air of casual indifference that reassured Anubis for some reason. The reputation of Mr. Ogata's son was known throughout most of the major corporate businesses, so this casual indifference had been expected.

Anubis didn't have a clue what was about to happen.

...

Cassandra's eyes snapped open when she heard footsteps on the stairs, and she reached through the bars to shake Camui awake. He gasped as she shoved him, then quickly recovered his wits and jumped to his feet as the footsteps grew louder, closer.

"Don't do anything stupid," Camui hissed at Cassandra as Logan appeared at the bottom of the stairs and grinned at them both.

"Time to put on a show for a possible invester," Logan said cheerfully as he opened the door to Camui's cell and waited, but Camui didn't move. "Ah, come on now! Are you really going to make me take the both of you?"

"You really want me to answer that?" Cassandra snorted, smirking as Logan opened her cell door as well and motioned her out. As Camui followed suit, Logan headed for the stairs, brushing a hand along Cassandra's right hip a little harder than necessary. Her step stuttered as a sharp pain roared up her torso from the harsh touch.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt?" Logan turned and gave Camui a warning glance when the man looked like he was gearing up to attack him. "Let's get moving, shall we? We have an appointment, and I don't want to be late,"

...

"This way," Anubis said joyfully as they stepped through the elevator and walked briskly down a long narrow corridor with only one other door at the very end of the hallway. The walls were made of steel. The floor was nothing fancy at all. It was simply a catwalk below which thick copper tubing could be seen. As second hallway branced out to their left halfway along the corridor, ending in a set of stairs, which, if the sign above the open archway was any indication, led down to the hangar containing their two gundams and the hundreds of other mobile suits Anubis commanded.

Wufei's face remained neutral, almost uninterested as they reached the door at the end of the hall and Anubis keyed in the code.

"Ah, Doktor J!"

Wufei blinked as he followed Anubis, but quickly wiped away the surprise. So this is where they disappeared to…or at least one of them.

"David," Doktor J said carefully as he turned to look at them, recognition flashing in his eyes upon sight of Wufei, but it was too subtle to even be noticed. But Wufei's attention was soon drawn away…

"Here it is, Daisuke. The future." Anubis stepped aside and held his arm out towards the center of the room. "This is the Cerberus,"

Wufei's eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared at the large device in the center of the back wall. It looked like something out of an old sci-fi thriller. The chair was basically round and although much more complex, it reminded him of the Matrix. There were six computer monitors on each side of the chair, each assigned different things to monitor about the device. Wires protruded from the back of the chair and spread out to the sides of the room, eventually curving downward near the door and merging as one. Now Wufei knew what that thick wire underneath the catwalk was. That must have been connected to the Cerberus' power source somewhere much deeper into the colony.

Wufei blinked. The Cerberus' power source _was_ the colony. No wonder it had gone virtually undetected. This colony was only fifty years old, but somehow, Anubis had been able to go to all of this without raising suspicion? Then it hit him; The Barton Foundation. They must have commissioned this colony years ago as one of the colonies they planned to drop onto Earth. Once they abandoned it, Anubis took over. He wouldn't have been on Dakim's payroll, so he must have happened upon this place accidentally, unless someone else had clued him in on the colonies structural extras. He must have bought it _from_ the Barton Foundation after Dakim fell in the Mariemeia wars.

It explained so much.

But it wasn't as surprising as the fact that the chair, at the moment, was empty. Tetsuya Camui was no where to be found. Did that mean there was a secondary device somewhere else that Anubis was hiding?

No. Relena had gone public with the fact that Orion had Tetsuya so what would have been the point of hiding him now? Unless he feared that Ogata Robotics would refuse to merge. Wufei's lips twitched. Anubis wouldn't care about that at all. If Ogata had refused the offer, he would have just killed the old man and sought out the son. At least with him here posing, he got to skip a step. Already, a plan was hatching.

"This device is going to change the way wars are fought. It's almost like virtual reality, just better. The device plugs into the pilot's brain and uses his battle instincts and knowledge to pilot the mobile suit _without_ the presence of the pilot himself. Thus, the battle is fought outside, while the pilot is safely tucked away inside." Anubis grinned from ear to ear as he looked back at Wufei. "What do you think so far?"

"It sounds extremely promising," Wufei said casually, taking a step forward to closer examine the machine, only allowing himself to look a _little_ interested. He really didn't care how it worked at all. His main concern would be figuring out how to shut it down when it came time to get Camui out of there.

"If you pardon my inquiry, how is this any different than the mobile dolls my company already manufactures?"

"Mr. Ogata, while the mobile dolls are effective, they can't think like a human being! Their reaction times are slow, and they certainly don't strategize! Besides, without a living conciousness, they have no known concept of what they're fighting for. They may have expert targeting systems and state of the art engines, but they are only useful as shields these days! No, Mr. Ogata, what I've got here is going to revolutionize the way wars are fought! Surely, you realize a suit like a Gundam couldn't possibly be used as a mobile doll? It's too big! Too complex and powerful!"

"Of course,"

"But with this, it's possible! The pilot plugs in here and controls the gundam wirelessly, far away from the battlefield. The suit will have the same reaction times, stealth and speed as it would if the pilot were actually inside of the suit,"

"Yes, very promising,"

"Oh, it is, Daisuke, it is! Would you like a demonstration?"

Doktor J blinked in surprise. "That would not be wise, sir-"

"And why not?" Anubis asked angrily as he looked over at the older man.

Doktor J glanced quickly at Wufei and then back at Anubis. "The pilot has not had the proper time to recuperate from his last session. He needs another twenty-four hours, at least,"

"I'm sure he can handle a ten minute session," Anubis growled as he looked towards Cameron who'd just appeared in the doorway. "Please check on Logan's progress. Mr. Ogata would like a demonstration of our technology before any further talk of a merger takes place,"

"Sure thing, boss," Cameron turned and vanished through the door.

Wufei turned back to Doktor J and Anubis and watched the two argue quietly. It was becoming more and more clear that Doktor J wasn't exactly here of his own free will, but obviously because he was the only person who would know for certain whether or not anything was going wrong with the Cerberus or it's operator.

"You mentioned the pilot might need an additional twenty four hours to recover. Does this mean that there's a limitation on the amount of time that can be spent plugged in?"

Anubis sighed quietly. "Alas, that's the downside. Fortunately, it's the only downside."

Doktor J seemed to disagree with this, but he kept his mouth shut as Anubis began rambling about how the machine was magnificent and how it would change the world. He seemed to be fishing for funding instead of partnership. How much power was this thing sucking up that he would be this desperate for a company merger?

Ten minutes seemed to have passed before Anubis seemed to perk up excitedly. "Ah! Here we are!"

Wufei turned to face the doorway as Logan and Cameron hauled Tetsuya and a very pale looking Cassandra into the room. Camui looked ragged and tired, but healthy. He wore a pair of loose black cotton pants and a white tank top that looked a bit dirty and worn down. His hair was at his shoulders, shaggy, disheveled and greasy. His face was still just as beautiful as ever, but there were bruises under his eyes, clearly from lack of sleep. As a matter of fact, it looked as if he'd just been pulled very roughly out of a much needed slumber.

Cassandra's pale blue shirt was stained red at her right side, proving the intel Heero had sent to him to be correct. She'd been injured.

"Tetsuya Camui," Wufei murmured as Logan dragged him passed, his bulky fingers holding Camui's forearm hard enough to bruise as he turned him and slammed him into the Cerberus chair. Camui grunted as he hit, but he kept his head forward, refusing to let the chip at the back of his neck connect with the one in the chair.

"Oh, come off it now, man!" Logan laughed, grasping Camui's shoulders hard in his hands. "Now is seriously not the time to put up a fight!"

"You can't plug him back in!" Cassandra snapped as she took a few steps forward, her arm immediately grabbed by Cameron, whom she glared at. "He hasn't had time to recooperate! If you plug him in now, he may not survive!"

"I assure you, Cassie, he'll be fine if we limit the activity. Isn't that correct, Doktor J?"

"You know I can't be sure of that,"

"I take it this means you're the head of Orion," Wufei murmured as he looked over at Anubis, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Well, get on with it then. I have several other meetings before the end of the day."

Cassandra stared at him in open mouthed surprise. Was he serious?

"Did you not listen to a word I just said?" Cassandra tried jerking free of Cameron's hold again, but it wrenched her side, causing her to bend double again.

"You really should be more careful, dear," Anubis muttered as he turned toward Wufei and smiled. "Please forgive her. She's a spitfire,"

"Hm. The demonstration?"

"Of course," Anubis motioned for Doktor J who reluctantly turned on all of the computer monitors and walked towards the Cerberus. Camui's azure blue eyes shifted to look at him for a moment before sliding back towards Wufei. When their eyes met, they held in an intense stare for several moments before a low groan escaped Camui's lips. Camui had known Daisuke Ogata, and the man standing with Anubis was _not_ him, meaning either Orion had finally been infiltrated, or someone had killed Daisuke and taken his place. Regardless, Cassandra was too vulnerable to fight back without injuring herself further. So when Cameron reached out as if to grab Cassandra's side, he jerked free of Logan's hold and sat back, allowing the chips to connect.

"That's more like it. Hey, boss, maybe we should have brought her in a long time ago," Logan chuckled as he took a step back and made a face at Camui who stared back at him hatefully. He couldn't move now, the feeling in his body had gone, a temporary result of the connection of the two chips.

"There's a microchip at the back of his neck that connects directly to the cerebral cortex, with a second chip in the chair. They connect like magnets and send a minute electrical shock to the cortex, which temporarily parylizes the user to make sure he stays completely still while the control crystal is installed." Anubis motioned toward Doktor J who held up a long, slender, needle-like object with a tiny quartz crystal at the end of it. "This crystal is inserted into the base of the brain through the microchips. It's what connects his mind to the Cerberus system and allows for the realtime control of a mobile suit. Doktor J, if you would be so kind,"

"No, wait!" Cassandra shouted as she jerked free of Cameron's hold at last and held her hands out to show she wasn't going to do anything stupid. "He can't. Look at his hands. They're shaking too much,"

"Darling, Doktor J has done fine so far," Anubis sighed dramatically at her outburst.

"You're already running the risk of killing him by putting him back into the system too soon. You really want to increase that risk because the doctor's hands are shaking? Let me do it,"

"You?"

"I have steadier hands. I work with mobile suits every day, David, and I was with Camui when he was developing this system. I can do this,"

Anubis stared at her for a moment, then turned his gaze to Doktor J whose hands were shaking quite a bit. It was nothing abnormal, but Cassandra was right. He was already risking quite a lot by providing this demonstration. If Camui died, he didn't have enough time to remanufacture the hardware, nor find a suitable candidate for implementation. His whole plan would fail if Camui died.

"She's right, doctor," Anubis said at long last. "How about we let miss Matthews take over for a moment?"

Doktor J nodded as Cassandra walked over to him and took the control crystal, then walked around behind the chair. She positioned the control perfectly, then took a deep, calming breath to keep herself steady. Then, slowly, she slid the control into the coupling and into place at the back of the machine. She clenched her jaw when she felt it lock into place, hearing the pained whimper that escaped Camui a fraction of a second before his eyes closed and his body relaxed. Parylized or not, she knew how much pain that must have caused him.

She looked up at Anubis and glared. "It's done,"

"Ah, here we are." Anubis motioned towards one of the large monitors. "That is the Diabolos Gundam. My pride and joy. This is the gundam that his mind controls with the Cerberus. Watch,"

Cassandra stepped away from the machine and approached the large monitor with Wufei, staring in awe of the massive gundam that had almost killed her weeks before. It was very similar to the Tallgeese in body design, and yet it was completely different in every way. Where there should have been a cockpit, there was only a solid gundanium plate, rendering the suit impregnable.

"Doktor J, if you would run simulation one?"

"Yeah, sure,"

Cassandra watched the way the gundam moved. The reaction times were incredibly fast, and its movements were flawless and graceful. She'd seen it up close and personal once before, but it still floored her how well a suit could move even when there wasn't a pilot shielded within it.

"Well, what do you think, Mr. Ogata?"

"I think it is very promising," Wufei admitted. "It obviously has some disadvantages to the user in the long run, but I think it's worth it if it effectively unmans the front lines."

"We have an accord?"

"I do believe so," Wufei reached out and shook Anubis' hand. The older man looked so elated it made him sick to his stomach, but there was nothing he could do. "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak to my father about the details,"

Anubis laughed quietly at him. "My dear Daisuke. I'm sorry, but did you really think I would let you leave now that you've seen my little project?"

Cassandra tensed and she turned to face them as the silence stretched.

Then Wufei smiled and shook his head. "No, Mr. Tans, I guess I shouldn't have expected that. I've seen a bit too much,"

"Yes. You see, I'm afraid, once your order for the merger goes through, you'll no longer be of any use to me," Anubis looked over to Cassandra. "You can unplug him now,"

She hesitated but then hurried over to Cerberus and deactivated the machine then very carefully removed the control crystal from the coupling. Meanwhile, Logan and Cameron searched Wufei for any weapons or communication devices.

"Just a phone, boss," Logan muttered as he tossed it over to Anubis who quickly looked through the contacts list.

"I think I can handle the rest of our transaction from here," Anubis chuckled as a nearby lanline began to ring and Cameron moved to answer.

"Oh, all right. Hey, boss, it's for you. It's Lonnie in the command center,"

"Really?" Slightly perplexed, he accepted the call then pointed hurriedly at Cassandra and Doktor J. "Plug him back in right now!"

"The paralysis is wearing off!" Doktor J argued, shocked. "We can't!"

"Do it right now!" He slammed the phone down and marched over to Cassandra who stumbled away from him. "I said now!"

"Cassie," Doktor J said quietly. "Cassie, do it, quickly, before he regains the feeling in his limbs,"

"But-"

"Don't argue, girl! Just do it," Doktor J gave her a soft nudge and she quickly ran to the device, retrieved the control crystal, replacing it in the conduit and locking it in place. Camui's body jerked, which frightened her, but when there were no alarming blips from the monitors that kept track of his vitals, she allowed herself to relax.

"Good, now, Logan, Cameron, escort miss Matthews and Mr. Ogata down to the holding cells. Logan, you are to stand guard over them. Cameron, I want you to return here immediately."

"Should we separate them?"

"There's no need, make it quick!"

"Yes sir!" They grabbed for their prisoners and quickly shoved them out of the room, holding on to them until they reached the stairwell halfway down the hallway and headed for the basement floor where the holding cells were located. Wufei made note of the door that led into the hangar and memorized the turns they took and the flights of stairs they descended as they were led away.

He risked a glance over at Cassandra who was tense as she walked beside him. Worry creased her features, and her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides. She wanted so badly to bury one in their guard's faces, but she was showing a surprising amount of control, for which he was grateful. He had a plan, he just hoped she didn't act prematurely.

Finally, they reached the holding cells and were both shoved inside roughly.

"I've got it. Get back to the boss before he gets upset. Something is obviously going down,"

"Good luck with those two,"

"Yeah, doubt I'll need it,"

Cassandra turned toward Logan and smirked. "How's the groin?"

"Shut up! I won't be giving you another opportunity to sneak in a cheap shot, believe me! You're a feisty little minx, and that was one heck of a knee, but I know your injury is still raw, so I'm not worried. Now, shut up and sit down before I'm forced to man handle you!"

Cassandra laughed quietly, forcing herself to sound nervous as Wufei walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Logan smirked and rested his arms through the bars of the cell. "Mr. Ogata's reputation preceeds him. You see, Cassie, he's a bit of a lady's man, if you get my drift. So you might get that man handling after all,"

"You've got to be kidding," Cassandra muttered under her breath. She was even more surprised when Logan opened the cell door and joined them.

"What? Oh, come on, now. You didn't think I was just going to stand there and watch, did you?"

But as Logan drew closer to her, she grinned. "You are so stupid,"

His eyes widened as his own gun was suddenly pressed against his temple. "What…?"

"Daisuke Ogata is young, but he's not that young," Cassandra took a step back as Wufei raised the gun and brought it down hard on the back of Logan's head. "And Anubis was wrong, there was definitely a need to separate us,"

"Are you all right?" Wufei asked as he tucked the gun into the back of his pants and reached for the hem of her shirt. Cassandra twisted away from him, but the quick movement knocked the wind out of her and she staggered back a few steps.

"Quit being difficult!" Wufei commanded as he steadied her, then lifted the bloodied shirt. The bruise was huge, dark and ugly, but the bleeding had stopped a long time ago, so the injury wasn't immediately dire. However, he did notice the hint of a baby belly. "You're pregnant?"

Cassandra glared at him and jerked her shirt back down. "Rumor has it,"

Wufei just stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. "Tell me you didn't know that before you decided to be so reckless!"

"I didn't know until Zechs told me last night! And since when do you care if I'm reckless or not?"

"Since I realized how big of an idiot I've been. Come on, we need to get to the hangar and get out of here."

"I'm not going anywere without Camui!"

"Who said anything about leaving without him? I need to secure us an escape route, then we can go retrieve Tetsuya!" He grabbed her hand and tugged her out of the cell, then slammed the door closed, locking Logan inside. Then they both turned and raced up the stairs, ducking into the shadows as Anubis' voice rang out from the intercoms in the hallways.

"Attention all pilots. Preventers are on their way to attack. Report to the hangars immediately for launch. This is not a drill. Report to the hangars for immediate launch. This war ends tonight."

...

End Chapter


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Space was colder than she had imagined. Despite the hustle around the battleship, the precise lack of noise was what she noticed. Katarina stared out of one of the large windows on the bridge. Stars dotted the inky black void that lay just beyond the ten inches of reinforced safety glass. This would all be over in a matter of hours. This war that had been going on for months now would finally be over. Cassandra, Camui, and Wufei would all be safe and Duo wouldn't have to pilot Deathscythe for a while.

"Kat, are you alright?" Sally's voice rattled her concentration.

"Not really, but I can't complain." The blonde answered. "I can't help but be scared and nervous and worried all at the same time."

The older woman chuckled in response. "I know how you feel. I have no idea where Wufei is right now and I can only hope that he's safe where ever he is. I'm only fooling myself when I think that, because I know that what he does isn't safe. He could die trying to get Cassandra and Camui out of there."

Kat gave Sally a sympathetic look. "I know how you feel. Duo's not going to stop doing what he does best any time soon. The universe can't survive without the God of Death."

The other sandy-haired woman gazed out the window as well. "Do you think they'll ever stop fighting?"

"That's the same as asking if the sun will ever stop rising. I don't think they'll ever truly be finished with their fight, Sally. They've been bred for it since they were children. It's what they live to do. I hate to say it, but I'm not sure they would know what to do if their true purpose was taken away."

"You're right." Sally sighed. "You grew up with Quatre, so you know a bit of what they went through. Did you ever regret falling in love with Duo because of what he is?"

The blonde shook her head, finally looking at the other woman. "No. When it comes to Duo, I have no regrets. I only wish we'd have been together years ago when we were kids. I'm here to stand beside him. I support him even if I can't do much more than that. I'm sure you feel the same way about Wufei."

A soft look came across the woman's face. "I do and I have the same regret as you. If only the two of us hadn't been so stubborn. I wish I could've told him before he pulled his disappearing act."

"You'll get your chance." Kat told her. "He may be in a hospital bed because you broke his legs, but you'll still have your chance."

Sally smiled and shook her head. "I'd better get back to sickbay and make sure that everything's in order. Have you got your mechanics ready for antigravity repairs?"

"As prepared as I'll ever have them. I just hope that we don't have to be out there too much. I would hate to have those lasers whipping past my head. I wouldn't want Heavyarms' bullets whizzing past me, either."

"Take care, Kat. I'm praying that everyone comes back safe and sound."

"Me too, Sally. Me too."

...

"My scanners are reading nothing. I've got nothing on infrared either."

"Maintain your position, Duo. We keep this formation until we spot the enemy." Heero's voice came over the communicator.

"They'll know we're coming." Quatre broke in. "Anubis isn't that blind. They'll be waiting for us."

"We anticipated that." Trowa commented. "We also anticipated that the upgraded Cerberus system will allow less freedom for Camui."

Duo shook his head. "I don't think we'll have to worry about the Diabolos right away. We'll have the other mobile suits to worry about."

Heero grunted to confirm Duo's theory. "Affirmative. Anubis will most likely keep his most powerful weapon hidden until the end. If he thinks that he can take away our advantage with the Diabolos, he'll wait."

"Things are getting ugly." Quatre commented in a sing-song tone. "Has anyone heard from Wufei? I'm starting to worry."

"Wufei's a hard ass, Q-man. He'll be fine." The braided brunette couldn't be sure if his words were designed to comfort his friend or himself. "Besides, Kat's on the battleship that's carrying the Altron. She'll be able to get to him faster than anyone else."

"I hope you're right." The Arabian sighed. "I hope Cassie and Camui are okay."

"They'll be fine, too." Trowa interrupted. "They're both strong people. They'll make it out of this alive."

It was about that time that Katarina's voice broke the conversation. "Greetings from the Battleship Octavia! We're about a hundred kilometers behind you and closing. Infrared sensors are clear back here, boys. The motion scanners aren't picking up anything either."

"We're not picking up anything either, babe. Things are going to get rough. I have a feeling." Duo responded.

"Try not to get too rough." Kat told them firmly. "There are people back here that care about all of you, you know."

"We know, Kat. There are a lot of people back there that we care about too that we're trying to keep safe." Quatre told her. "We can't let anything happen to our friends and the ones we love."

The blonde on the other side of the communications line was silent for a few moments. "I love every one of you. I want every single one of you to come back alive, you hear me?" Her voice was shaking. "I don't want to lose any one of my friends."

Duo swallowed the lump in his throat. "We can't promise that we'll all come back, Kat. We'll try our damnedest, but we can't promise. I love you, Kat. Always remember that."

No sooner had the words left his lips than the laser fire began. It was getting heavier by the second, but no mobile suits had come into view. Duo grabbed the controls of his Gundam and gritted his teeth, steering to avoid the oncoming fire. The explosions rattled his mobile suit because of their close proximity. The rest of the mobile suit army was behind them. The Aries and Serpents were breaking formation to meet their opponents, which had just come into sight. The crossfire was becoming intense as the Deathscythe veered to the right.

"I've got at least fifty enemy mobile suits at twenty degrees south." Heero stated, the Wing Zero shooting ahead of the other Gundams, his buster rifle blazing.

"We can take fifty." Quatre replied rationally. "It's the ones behind them that I'm worried about."

"They're nothing." Trowa commented, his gattling gun rattling off rounds.

"We'll take care of them, boys. Don't you worry. Just keep your eyes peeled for Diabolos. That's our main priority."

The four Gundams and the rest of the mobile suit battalions flew into the fire that was intended to injure, maim, and otherwise destroy them.

...

It was almost instantly that the explosions started. Both Katarina and Sally watched as the bright flashes started, reminding the women of fireflies suffering some strange temperament. The shockwaves of the explosions rocked the battleship. The blonde braced herself against the wall as she and her companion were headed toward the bridge.

As the doors slid open, the bridge was in utter chaos. As they neared the enemy lines, the captain was nowhere to be found. A red light was blinking on the console, indicating an incoming transmission. Katarina rushed over to the pilot's seat and hit the button.

"What the hell are you doing?" Came an aggravated shout. That was definitely Duo. "Hold your position!"

"It's me! The captain is nowhere in sight!"

"Kat? What are you doing? You have to get them to stop the battleships or you're going to head directly into enemy fire."

The blonde nodded even though no one could see her. "HEY!" she shouted over the din of the panicked flight crew. "I know for most of you this is your first battle. It's scary, I know, but you've got to pull yourselves together! If we get any closer to the front line, we'll be in danger of taking fire. Now, return to your stations! We've got a battleship to run!"

It was surprising how well the crew listened to her as they resumed their activities like nothing had ever happened. Katarina's chest swelled with pride as Sally came dragging the captain back to the bridge with an angry look on her face.

"Now act like you've got some balls and do your job!" The head of medical staff shouted. "There are hundreds of men and women out there risking their lives to do jobs a hundred times more dangerous than yours! Get to it!"

Kat was just about to leave with Sally when a crackling came over her headset. Rattling entered her ear as well as the sounds of grating and thumping. Someone was trying to get a hold of her. She tapped the headphone to stop the static, but to no avail.

"Get the mechanics out here! We've got mobile suit damage! Sandrock is coming in for some quick repairs in five minutes! We need the mechanics now!"

"Well, looks like I get to go to work." She changed the frequency of the headset so that it was connected with her other mechanics. "We just got the call! Get your asses in gear and suit up! We leave the airlock in five!"

The blonde raced down the corridors to the loading deck of the battleship. Her mechanics were scattered around pulling on their space suits, which looked surprisingly similar to the thin material and helmets that the pilots wore. Kat had thought herself very smart for wearing her space suit under her Preventers uniform. She started gathering the blowtorch and the clamps and anything else they could possibly need to start the repairs. The blonde head mechanic positioned herself before the door as her other mechanics began to gather around her.

"Alright. I know all of you are probably nervous, but this is what you do. This is what we all do. This door behind me will be lowering in about two minutes and we'll begin our repairs. Be careful out there. There'll be laser fire and explosions all over the place."

The cargo door lowered slowly behind her as she turned to meet the dark void before her. The stars gave the pretense of serenity in inky blanket of space. Pushing off with the balls of her feet, Kat launched herself into the void. She was amazed by the fact that she could see the explosions before her, but they made no noise.

The members of her team began breaking off to take care of the various Aries and Serpents that required repairs. It didn't take Kat long to locate the Sandrock. Quatre had brought the Gundam as close as possible to the Octavia. The blonde took a deep breath as she turned her thruster pack on. She was propelled closer to the Gundam when she heard her brother through the headset.

"I didn't think the damage was that bad until the T-system took me out of battle"

"What's your damage, Q?"

"There seems to be some scorching to the main wiring panel. I'm guessing that the wires to the main and backup thrusters are melted. I think there's also some damage to the right arm." The other blonde reported.

The younger of the two siblings floated to the main panel located between what would've been the shoulder blades. Prying it open, Kat was met with sparks and a puff of acrid smoke. She could see that the now-black insulation meant that her brother was right. She set to work quickly, clamping the wires off at the points where they could be salvaged. Her sigh was amplified by her helmet as she began to cut the charred wires. Her welding torch was floating behind her so that she could be ready to fix the rest damage as she got to it.

...

The attacking mobile suits just seemed to keep coming. There was no end to their numbers and they seemed to keep coming. Laser fire that had started out moderate had increased to heavy quite quickly. Preventers mobile suits and Orion mobile suits clashed against one another as they met in close-range combat, locked together, and broke apart only to engage in the same lethal dance. The Gundams were darting back and forth among the separate battles in an attempt to keep the battlefield from becoming congested.

Deathscythe was the closest to the battleships behind them. The laser fire was coming closer and closer to them. Sandrock had already gone in for repairs and it would seem that Heavyarms would be next. From what Duo had heard, Kat and her team of mechanics had already gone out into space. The repairs had begun and it would only be a matter of time before Quatre was back on the battlefield. The explosions shook the cockpit as the brunette cursed under his breath.

"How much longer, Q-man? It's getting hot and heavy out here!" he shouted, grinding his teeth.

"Give me five minutes. The repairs will be completed by then. Kat's doing her best with never being in space before."

"Try to hurry. The enemy mobile suits are getting closer to the battleships. If they get any closer, the cruisers will get hit for sure."

There was a moment of silence. "We're working as fast as we can. Keep them away for a few more minutes. I'm sorry, Duo. We're trying."

"Understood. Will do, Q-man. Keep it moving."

The communications were severed as the Deathscythe took a laser blow to the left side. Duo cursed as he maneuvered to the rear. Tallgeese III came into view as the smoke began to thin out. Zechs had had very little communication with any of them prior to or during the battle. The white mobile suit slowed and came to a stop in front of the Deathscythe.

"Are you still functional? I got a notice that you'd been hit."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think it just grazed the plating. The smoke is mostly just for show. How are you holding up, Zechs?"

The Lightning Count seemed to answer in a guarded fashion. "I'm fine. These mobile suits are getting thicker. If it were possible, I'd say that Anubis had a cloning machine of some kind."

"Do you think he'd go to those lengths?" Duo asked, biting his lower lip.

"I don't think he'd try that. Creating the Cerberus System and the Diabolos was one thing," Zechs said, pecking his fingers on the consol, "The materials needed for that type of technology would be noticed."

Any further conversation was impossible as another round of laser fire began. The Deathscythe and the Tallgeese III separated as they shot toward their opponents. Explosions filled every possible space as the Gundams were darting in and out of enemy fire. As Duo made another round by the battle cruisers, he barely spotted a small figure floating away from the Sandrock. That had to be Kat. The Sandrock's thrusters flared to life as he started to move away from the support ships. Before the brunette could turn his gaze from his friend's mobile suit, a bright flash filled his vision. The fire had gotten too close. The Sandrock was propelled toward him as he heard Quatre's voice screaming over the communication link.

"KAT!"

...

"I've got most of the burned wires out of here, Q. It should be a few more minutes and I'll have you up and running again."

"Sounds good, Kat. Things sound like they're getting worse out there."

Kat tried not to pay attention to the statement. "The explosions are getting closer, Q. We're going to have to hurry up. I just need to reconnect the power supply to the main thrusters."

Connecting a few more wires together, Kat exclaimed happily as the thrusters began to vibrate. "Sounds like you've got them working again. Great! Thank you, Kat. I've got to get back out there."

"Please, please be careful, Q. I can't lose the only blood relative that I have left."

A chuckle came over her headset. "I will. You know that. Trowa will be coming in for repairs on his gattling gun. The constant use has caused them to overheat and the chamber has frozen up."

"That's not too hard to fix. Send him in."

The blonde smiled as she watched her brother drift away from her. The thrusters flared to life and that was about the time that she caught the lasers out of the corner of her eye. The two collided in the thin space between Sandrock and herself. Flame shot toward her silently. Feeling that there was nothing for her to do, Kat closed her eyes, not bothering to fight the grimace on her face. She vaguely thought she heard her brother calling out to her.

"KAT!"

...

End Chapter.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Cassandra made it all the way to the main stairwell that led out into the hangar before she pulled Wufei to a stop.

"What are you doing?"

"You need to go," Cassandra hissed, glancing back down the hallway. "Listen to me, Wufei, they need you out there. Go get Altron and help them."

"My primary objective is to get you to safety,"

"And that isn't going to happen in the middle of a fire fight. I can get Camui and Doktor J out of here on my own, but our chances of survival are miniscule if you try to get us all out of here with you. They need you out there to hold back the fight and to stop Diabolos and Anubis. We'll do what we can from this end, but get going!"

"You're crazy," Wufei muttered but he gave her a proud smile. "I was wrong about you, Cassandra. You're a stronger person than I pegged you for. Here, take the gun, you'll need it more than I,"

"Get going!" Cassandra insisted as she turned and raced back up the stairs and vanished around the corner. The door to the lab was cracked open, so she slowed her progress and readied the gun in her hands. As she pushed the door open with her foot, she was surprised to see Cameron unconcious on the floor at Doktor J's feet.

"Just because I'm an old man doesn't mean I'm weak," He muttered as he gave her a long, proud look. "You don't know how glad I was to see you. You've grown a lot since I last saw you, young lady,"

Cassandra slipped the gun into the back of her pants, rushed forward and threw her arms around the old man's neck.

"We've been looking for you from the start of this whole thing! Where are the others?"

"In hiding, where Anubis couldn't find them. Once I realized he intended to use Cerberus, I let him find _me_. I couldn't risk the world losing Camui, and that doctor Sloan character is a real joke. Besides, I knew how much he meant to you,"

Cassandra smiled at him then moved over to check Camui's vitals. "Can we get him out of here?"

"Not without Anubis noticing," Doktor J indicated the monitor she'd watched earlier and she noticed that Anubis' gundam, as well as Diabolos, were prepping to leave the hangar. Then she looked down at Cameron lying on the floor a few feet from her and back at Cerberus again.

"What's in your head, child?"

"Is there a spare hardware?"

"What? Oh, yes!" He ran forward and kissed her on the cheek. "My dear, you are a genius!"

...

"KAT!"

She gasped and twisted around in the space around her, only to see a mass of Gundam suddenly baring down on her. There was no sound other than the horrified cries from her brother and lover, and then nothing but blinding light and then…nothing.

Trowa forced Heavyarms to be her shield, blocking the laser blasts that had suddenly come in her direction.

"Kat! Are you all right?!"

"I-I'm fine!" Kat choked into the com. "Thank you, Trowa!" Still in shock from what had just happened, Kat floated there in front of Heavyarms for a few seconds before she shook herself into action. Trowa needed some quickie repairs as fast as she was able to give them, so she needed to get back to work.

"Heads up!" Noin shouted through the com at the same time Zechs announced, "Diabolos!"

"There's a second Gundam. Anubis is on the battlefield," Heero announced calmly. "Do not engage Anubis' Gundam. I'm pretty sure Diabolos' primary initiative is going to be to protect Anubis at all costs. Avoid both of them until Wufei is on this battlefield. We need all five of the gundams and Tallgeese in order to deal with those two. If you can avoid them, then avoid them!"

"Understood," Duo growled into the com as he glanced back towards Heavyarms and his wayward mechanic. "Be safe, Kat!"

"You, too!" Kat called back, not in the least bit distracted from her work. Within minutes, Heavyarms was back in working order. Kat was just about to head back inside when the Altron Gundam suddenly flew out through the side of the battleship.

"Sally?" Kat called frantically.

"It's Wufei! He made it back!"

"Thank god! What about Cassandra and Camui?"

"He said Cassandra stayed behind to help Doktor J shut down Cerberus, but they're both there. Zechs?"

"I heard you loud and clear," Zechs growled as he focused on the battle at hand. "She's all right?"

"Wufei says she's fine. A little shaken up but definitely alive and kicking,"

Zechs smirked a little. "That's all I needed to know. Tallgeese, did you hear that?"

"Yes! I'm so glad!"

And with that, Zechs checked all of the strategies Tallgeese was throwing at him and chose one that took him on the same path as Heero; right to the center of the fight.

"Heero. We need to draw Anubis and the Diabolos to us, separate them if possible,"

"I know. Cassandra?"

"She'll stop him from the inside if she can. If not, we need to be ready. Diabolos and Anubis' gundam must be destroyed regardless. But if they could be turned against each other-"

"Yes! Wufei-"

"On my way!" Altron was suddenly barreling into the fray, taking out mobile dolls on the outer edge of the battlefield so that he could get in on the action and give aid to Quatre and Noin who both seemed to have found themselves in a tight spot.

"Is there any way to communicate with Cassandra?"

"I'll try to find a way to patch into the communications system in the lab where the Cerberus is located. She'll be there with Doktor J. It's not guarantee but, I'll see what I can do!" Wufei admitted as he twisted Altron between a few mobile suits and thrust out its arm to destroy the heads of the two ugly purple suits closest to him.

"Keep me updated," Heero commanded as he plunged the saber of Wing Zero into an oncoming mobile doll. "The dolls are nearly spent. Spare as many soldiers as you can! Here comes the second wave!"

"That's not all. Diabolos is moving with them and Anubis is behind him." Duo warned with a nasty scowl, his fingers bleaching white as he gripped the thrusters. "I don't think we're going to be able to avoid him any longer."

"Get those battleships back! They're too close!" Zechs commanded quite suddenly, his entire focus on Diabolos and the buster cannon that was powering up. It was aimed straight at the maintenance ship. "Get them back!"

Heero and Zechs surged forward at the same time towards Diabolos, but were intercepted by enemy fire from a group of at least twenty mobile dolls. Their path was blocked. Diabolos was too heavily protected for them to get through.

"Damn!" Quatre swore as he fought his way through, trying to get close enough to help Heero and Zechs and failing miserably. "SHIT!"

...

Cassandra grunted as she rolled Cameron onto his belly and pushed the short black hair away from his neck. The spare hardware for the Cerberus was in her right palm, ready to be implanted and Doktor J was kneeling beside her, measuring the precise point of entry for the device.

"You're going to have to do it quickly, and it's going to take a lot of force. You're injured, are you sure you can do this?"

"It's not the injury that's making me doubt myself," Cassandra muttered, taking a deep, calming breath. "It's the fact that I'm about to subject someone else to the pain and torture of this stupid machine. Bad guy or not, I wouldn't wish that on anyone,"

"If it would ease your conscience, Cameron is the reason that Tetsuya has that scar on the left side of his face,"

"Yeah," Cassandra reared back and slammed the device into the back of Cameron's neck, scowling as the man woke up screaming. "That helps,"

"You! You bitch! What did you do?" Cameron demanded as he relentlessly clawed at the back of his neck, trying to rip out the hardware she'd just forced into his skin. "Get it out of me!"

"Do you even want to bother with the neural inhibitors?" Doktor J laughed quietly behind her, causing Cameron's face to pale.

"We don't have time for that," snickered Cassandra as she climbed back onto her feet and pointed Logan's gun at his face. "Get up. And don't try anything stupid."

Cameron stood up shakily, hardly able to stay upright, and stared over at her in horror. "You can't do this!"

"Oh, but I am. Let's go, over here. Now!" As Cameron stumbled past her, she struck out with the handle of the gun and watched him crumple to the floor again, just as an alarm began sounding on the observation monitor beside her.

"Damn!" Doktor J cursed. "Diabolos is powering main weapons!"

"Already? What's the target?" Cassandra demanded.

"The maintenance cruiser…"

"Kat…" Cassandra whispered, closing her eyes. So many promises had been made, so many men and women promising to come back home from the battlefield. So many had died already and now more death was coming. If they took out the maintenance cruiser, the others would be helpless if they needed any repairs. Tallgeese would be able to navigate most of them away from the battlefield, but if repairs couldn't be made, Anubis would just overrun them and destroy them anyway.

"Help me get Cameron to the chair!" Cassandra tucked the gun back into her belt then ran over to Cameron's prone form, impressed by the strength Doktor J commanded. Once they got him propped up, Cassandra checked the monitor to see just what exactly Diabolos was doing, then moved forward to cup Camui's face in her hands. "Can you hear me, Tetsuya? I'm getting you out of here, I promise,"

"Doktor J?"

Startled, they both jumped at the sound of Wufei's voice over the com system.

"I'm here, Wufei!" Doktor J said hurriedly as he grabbed the com speaker. "Are you still on the colony?"

"No, I'm on the battlefield. It's chaos out here! Listen, Diabolos is targeting one of our cruises!"

"We know!"

"Can you stop him? Can you shut the system down?" The static in the background and all of the chatter clued Doktor J and Cassandra in on the fact that everyone could hear the conversation, at least on Preventer's end.

"Cassandra is working on something, but we can't be sure it will work or that Anubis won't notice. Just give us a minute!"

"We don't have a minute!" Wufei barked through the speaker just as Cassandra said, "We're going to need a third set of hands!"

"And where do you expect me to find a third set of hands, my dear!?" Doktor J sounded panicked. "We'll just have to work with what we have. We're out of time!"

"Doktor J? This is Preventer Wind. Where is Cassandra?"

The relief that she felt as she heard his voice nearly winded her. "I'm here, Zechs!"

"Are you hurt?"

"No!" Cassandra lied as she moved back to Doktor J. "No, I'm all right. I have an idea, but we're going to have to be quick and I'm short on hands here!"

"Cassandra!" Zechs growled. "Do it now! We're out of time!"

Anxious now, Cassandra ran back to Cerberus and circled the device, reaching for the control conduit as Doktor J hefted Cameron up from the floor and prepared to perform a switch.

"You need a third pair of hands?"

The gun Cassandra had was suddenly in her hands, aimed directly at the security guard as he appeared in the doorway. He threw his hands up to indicate he was unarmed and took a precautionary step forward.

"Lietenant Jack Harkness. Or, as his Excellency Treize referred to me, Preventer Rain,"

Cassandra hesitated, but another panicked shout from Zechs through the communications array had her stuffing the gun back into her belt. "When I remove the control crystal, get Camui out of that chair as quickly as possible. Doktor, you're going to have to be quick with that goon. We don't have time to worry about being delicate."

"After dealing with him over the last several years, believe me, I don't care," Doktor J muttered. Cassandra nodded hurriedly, then took a deep, relaxing breath to calm her already frayed nerves. And then, very carefully, she removed the control crystal from the conduit. When Camui gasped and lurched forward, Jack yanked him out of the chair and Doktor J slammed Cameron into place. Knowing every second counted, Cassandra shoved the crystal back into place and ran toward the monitor.

"Zechs? Zechs!"

...

"We're not going to be able to get out of the way!" Sally whispered as Kat raced back onto the bridge, yanked off her helmet, tossed it aside and stopped next to her. "It's too late, Kat…"

Kat stared, horrified. Duo had promised her that he would survive, but had they even thought of the possibility that the tables would turn in the opposite direction? "No, no, Cassandra will stop him,"

"Kat?" Duo called through the com. "Kat? Kat, get out of there!"

"Too late," Kat whispered, her lips parted in surprise, tears springing to her eyes. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end. "It's too late, he can't stop it now. That energy has to be released…"

Sally grabbed her hand and held it tightly as they stared out through the observation window. "There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Duo. I'm sorry to everyone,"

And then Diabolos fired.

"Brace yourselves! EVERYONE DOWN!"

"KAT!"

"SALLY!"

It was Wufei and Duo who shouted, and their paniced shouts were followed by several surprised protests from everyone else on the battlefield. There was no one to intercede, they were too far away.

Kat and Sally hit the floor and wrapped their arms around each other, wrenching their eyes closed and waiting for the end.

And then…nothing. They could just make out the light from that immense blast of power blinding them and filling the room as it zoomed…right passed them and disintegrated in the vacuum of space.

Kat and Sally stared at each other in surprise seconds before there was an elated scream through the com from Quatre, Wufei and Duo of "YES!"

"He missed on purpose! Kat, are you alright?!" Duo demanded. "Kat? Sally? Diabolos changed his aim at the last second! Are you two alright? Is everyone alright?!"

"We're fine!" Kat shouted, laughing as she and Sally embraced again and jumped up and down. "We're fine! Now finish this thing so we can go home!"

"Roger that!"

...

Cassandra didn't realize she'd stopped breathing until the shouts of elation rang throughout the room from the com system and she released the air she'd been holding in.

"You did it, Cassie!" Zechs said proudly. "Kat says to finish this so we can go home!"

"You're not kidding!" Cassandra sighed with relief at hearing that her idea had been successful, but her attention was drawn to Camui when he groaned and reached for her. "Take it easy! Come on, let's get out of here,"

"Not yet," Camui croaked as he leaned against her for a moment, then pushed away from her. She watched as he stumbled over to the Cerberus and pulled one of the monitors nearest the device toward him and began typing furiously into the keyboard.

"Tetsuya?" Cassandra approached him slowly, concerned by the way his body shook. "Tetsuya, what are you doing?"

He didn't answer her, so she glanced nervously at Doktor J, then peered over Tetsuya's shoulder to see what he was doing.

"You're rewriting the programming," Cassandra murmured, a hand coming to rest at the small of his back as she read through it. "Tetsuya…"

"I can't allow this to happen," He growled at her, jerking away from her touch for a moment, which startled her. Judging by the way his body shook, by the pained look on his face, having been plugged in then unplugged from the Cerberus twice in only two hours had taken its toll. It was a miracle he was standing!

"Tetsuya, we have to go!" Cassandra insisted as he continued to type furiously, his breathing ragged. Finally, he took a stumbling step back from the monitor, and tears slipped down his cheeks.

"What did you do, boy?" Doktor J demanded as he walked up to the monitor and read through the reprogramming. "Oh, you genius!"

"Diabolos is connected to Cerberus wirelessly. I reprogrammed the Ceberus to follow certain commands, and disabled its main weapons system," Tetsuya struggled to say as he looked at Cameron now plugged into the device. "He's going to die,"

Cassandra reached out to him but he snatched the gun from the back of her belt and aimed it at Cameron.

"Tetsuya!" He fired the shot without hesitating, and the bullet lodged into the panel just below Cameron's left ear. Electric sparks began to rise from the machinery as he stumbled backward toward Cassandra, then grabbed her hand and turned her toward the door.

"Let's go!" Jack shouted as warning alarms began to go off in the lab. "That thing's getting ready to overload!"

Doktor J snatched the gun from Camui's hand, shoved it back into Cassandra's, then he and Jack took Camui's weight and bolted for the door.

"Get to the hangar, child! We need to get out of here!"

"What's going to happen to the colony?" Cassandra asked as they bolted down the hallway, turned down the only other corridor and headed down the stairs to the hangar.

"If Heero is quick, hopefully nothing. The Cerberus' power source _is_ the colony. If that thing overloads, the colony loses power and stability. It wont drop orbit, but it's definitely going to need a complete overhaul of its main systems."

"And the people here?" Cassandra motioned for them to stop at the bottom of the stairs as she carefully peered through the door into the hangar. It was deserted, save for a lone shuttle in the far corner that was getting ready to take off.

"The colony will run on emergency power until it can be fixed. They'll be fine," Doktor J insisted as he felt the walls beginning to shake. "We need to make this quick!"

"That shuttle is mine, but it has orders not to wait around. We need to go, miss Matthews!"

Cassandra shoved the door open and held it that way as Jack and Doktor J hurried along the catwalk with Camui between them. She followed quickly, worried about the sudden weakness Tetsuya was experiencing. He'd seemed so strong before he'd been plugged in. Had that just been a show? Had he been trying to keep her from worrying, knowing that once he was plugged in again that would be the end? Everything he'd gone through, everything he had survived already seemed so meaningless when faced with the reality that he might not survive this time.

"Cassandra! Get moving, girl!" Doktor J shouted. They were halfway to the shuttle when they'd realized she wasn't with them and Tetsuya threw her a pleading look that got her legs moving again. She ran to catch up to them, stumbling as the ground shook beneath her feet. They all fell quite suddenly, but were back on their feet hurriedly even as the lights flickered in warning.

"Go!" Cassandra shouted, giving all three a hard shove into the shuttle as she reached them. As Doktor J and Jack led Tetsuya over to an empty seat, Cassandra ran into the cockpit and ordered the pilot to get them out of there in a hurry.

"Get us to the command ship. Follow the outskirts of the battle and do not, for anything, stop this shuttle, do you understand?" Cassandra grasped the back of the pilot's chair tight in her hands as he nodded and thrust the small craft out of the docking bay and into the bleakness of space. Once they made it out, Cassandra leaned forward and stared out through the massive window and saw the battle taking place. Explosions lit the stark blackness, and debris from devastated mobile suits drifted around them.

Cassandra sank into the chair next to the pilot and stared over at the nearest battle, floored by the sight of the Diabolos gundam.

"She's massive,"

"She's extremely close to us," The pilot warned, turning the shuttle sharp left. "I don't think there's a way around this! We'll never make it to the command shuttle in this mess!"

They didn't hear the explosion as the Cerberus overloaded in the colony behind them, but they saw the violent light, and they felt the wave of that explosion as it swept through the battlefield. The shuttle lurched violently forward, and Cassandra had to brace her hands on the control panel in front of her to keep from flying into the window. But the hard motions wrenched her side again, and she felt the warmth of blood as it soaked her stained shirt.

"Is everyone all right!?" Doktor J demanded from the back of the shuttle, picking himself up from the floor. "Pilot, get us out of here!"

"I'm trying! There are mobile suits everywhere and I can't tell which are friendly!"

Cassandra grumbled under her breath and groped at the communications array. A transmission was trying to come through, but there was so much static and interference from the explosion, she couldn't understand a word of it.

"Damn it! What a piece of junk!" Cassandra cursed, slamming her hand against the control until the static lessened.

"We need to get out of here, quickly!" Jack shouted as he ran into the cockpit and shoved the pilot out of the way. "Which way to the command cruiser, miss Matthews?"

"Over there!" Cassandra hissed, paling when the proximity alarms began to sound and the shuttle was slammed with debris.

"Hull integrity has been compromised!" Jack announced unhappily. "If we don't get out of here, quickly, this shuttle will be torn apart!"

Cassandra gasped and fell back into her chair as a dark shadow fell over the shuttle, and she stared into the face of a very intimidating mobile suit.

Anubis' gundam.

"That's not friendly," Jack murmured beside her, giving her a quick glance. "I'm sorry, miss Matthews. I failed you,"

Cassandra met his sad look then turned and gazed back at Tetsuya. He stared back at her, blood slowly beginning to drip from his nose. He was in so much pain, she could see it on his face, and all she wanted to do was make sure he got to Sally so she could save him. When she looked back at Jack and saw the transmission from Anubis appearing on the screen, she nodded her head at him, then turned and glared up at Anubis' grinning face.

"Now, darling, just what have you done to my Cerberus?"

"I blew it the hell up!" Cassandra shouted angrily.

"I hope not with your precious Camui still plugged in. Of course not. Don't think I didn't notice the change in how the Diabolos fights. You got him out, didn't you? Aren't you clever!"

The proximity alarms went off again as another chunk of mobile suit slammed into the side of the shuttle and sent it careening into space. Cassandra lost her hold on the chair and slammed into Jack who threw an arm around her and held tight while he fought to restabilize the shuttle. She felt dizzy and off balance by the time she was able to plant her feet and scramble back over to her chair and strap in, but she wouldn't give Anubis the satisfaction of seeing the fear on her face.

"That looks like it did quite a bit of damage to your shuttle. I'm not entirely sure you'll survive the trip back to the command ship. That's where you're trying to go, isn't it?" Anubis smiled a cold, cruel smile at her, then closed his eyes and shook his head. "You'll never make it out of here alive, Cassandra. And neither will any of your friends. The gundams are being overrun by my troops, and there's nothing powerful enough to stop my gundam, or the Diabolos. I'm so glad I got to play this last game with you. However, before I go, would you like to hear a secret, Cassie?"

The proximity alarms began sounding for a third time as the arms of Anubis' gundam reached out and ripped the right wing off of the shuttle.

"What are you doing?!" Jack shouted. "You're going to kill us!"

"That's the point!" Anubis laughed hysterically. "Cassandra, my love, do give your mother my regards when you reach Heaven."

As the shuttle jolted violently, Cassandra's brown eyes widened. She stared at him in open mouthed surprise.

"You…you're…no!" Cassandra whimpered, certain she'd heard him wrong.

"That's right my dear. I'm Howard's dirty little secret. I'm your father,"

...

Zechs and Tallgeese were engaging one of the last groups of mobile dolls when his radar picked up a civilian shuttle leaving the southern docking bay of the colony.

"What the hell? Is that pilot crazy?" He muttered as he took out the mobile dolls and turned Tallgeese toward the shuttle. Who the hell would be crazy enough to fly directly into a chaotic battle field?

His heart sank when a bright flash of light drew his attention toward the colony and Tallgeese rocked violently in the power of the shock wave the exploded from the colony.

"What the hell was that!?" Chatter in the coms became even more chaotic as the backlash of that blast rendered the Diabolos gundam useless. Zechs squinted in the bright light until it finally faded, then he stared at the still, lifeless gundam floating not far from him.

"Tallgeese…"

"The Cerberus overloaded. Something must have happened,"

Zechs' chest tightened as he turned back toward the shuttle, now suffering critical damage to its hull. Was Cassandra in that shuttle? Despite the explosion, the battle was still raging, and there was no clear path for that shuttle to take that would result in its safe docking with the command ship.

And then Anubis' gundam moved to intercept, tearing the right wing of the shuttle to complete shreds.

"Mother's on that ship!" Tallgeese announced quite suddenly, trying to fight his control. "Zechs!"

"Heero!" Zechs tinkered with the communication but it was still in disarray. He just prayed Heero or someone would realize what he was doing and follow suit. If they could take Anubis out now, they could put a stop to this stupid war and be done with it. But if they tried to intervene while he was so close to that shuttle, they might end up destroying it, too.

"Damn," Zechs muttered as he thrust Tallgeese forward. If he didn't hurry, Anubis was going to tear that shuttle apart anyway. "Tallgeese, I know we never got through all of the test flights, and I know I may not be ready, but I'm pushing you to the max."

"Ok!" He barely heard her voice, fearing the EM pulse from the explosion might have fried some of her systems, too, but he pushed hard on the thrusters and hurdled them toward Anubis and the shuttle he was attacking.

Alarms began sounding as he drew closer, his speed increasing when he saw Anubis' gundam preparing to tear the left wing off the shuttle. A blip on his radar showed Wing Zero and Deathscythe were both hot on his tail, and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Heero would do what he needed to do. Duo would see that shuttle safely to the command ship, no matter what happened.

Zechs growled, pushing the Tallgeese to her breaking point, and he slammed into Anubis' gundam at full throttle, gasping in pain as his body was thrown around like a rag doll. The two gundams spun out of control for a few long moments, entangled with one another, before Zechs regained control of Tallgeese and righted her, locking Anubis' gundam against him.

"Damn you!" Anubis' face appeared on his screen and he stared into that hateful face through a haze of red. A gash above his right eye spilled blood down his face and into his eye, and despite how rattled he felt, Zechs held that hateful gaze with one of his own.

"David Tans, your gundam has been compromised. Call off your armies and surrender!" Zechs demanded angrily.

Anubis just laughed and shook his head. "I would never surrender to the likes of you, Zechs Merquise."

"So be it," Zechs murmured, pulling back on the arm controls until he had the gundam locked tight. The strain on the Tallgeese was immense, and he felt the vibrations of the gundanium alloy bending from the force he was using. Anubis glared at him through the com, but another face suddenly appeared.

"Zechs, what are you doing?" It was Heero that stared at him now, and he was powering Wing Zero's buster canon. "You have to let him go, Zechs!"

"And risk him escaping?" Zechs closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't allow that. Duo, get that shuttle to the command ship safely. Make sure Cassandra and Tetsuya are all right. Heero, destroy Anubis' gundam!"

"Roger that,"

...

The shuttle jolted again as Anubis moved to tear apart the second wing, but another proximity alarm sounded and, quite suddenly, Anubis and his gundam were knocked away.

"Tallgeese!" Cassandra shouted, shocked by the speed of the gundam and the massive impact as the two collided. "Zechs!"

"What's he doing? What's in his head?" Jack demanded as he fought to stabilize the shuttle. "He's going to get himself killed!"

Still floored by Anubis' grand revelation moments before, Cassandra could only stare as the Tallgeese regained stability and restrained Anubis' gundam. Sparks flew, the gundanium plates around the cockpit bent and began to break apart, and she could see the strain of the arms as they held Anubis in place. Then, quite suddenly, the shuttle jolted and the shadow of Deathscythe fell over them.

"Gundam 02 calling,"

"Duo!" Cassandra cried as his face filled the screen above her.

"Is everyone all right? I'm taking you guys to the command ship as quickly as I can. Just strap in a hold tight!"

"What the hell is Zechs doing!?" Cassandra demanded when Duo turned the shuttle and she saw Wing Zero powering his buster cannon. "No, Heero!"

"Duo, get them out of there!" It was Quatre's voice that reached them now, and he sounded panicked. "We've got the path cleared, but you need to hurry!"

"Damn it!" Cassandra cursed as the shuttle lurched forward and Duo flew them toward the command ship. "Patch me through to Tallgeese! Jack, do it!"

He hesitated then quickly hailed the gundam. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Zechs' bleeding face appeared on the screens.

"Cassie,"

"What the hell are you doing!? Are you crazy!?"

"I'm stopping Anubis. I'm glad you're all right," Zechs admitted, smiling softly. "I was worried you'd gotten caught in that explosion. Your path is clear. Duo's taking you to the command ship. You're safe now, Cassie,"

"Zechs, you can't do this! Tallgeese will be destroyed by Wing Zero if you don't let go!"

"I understand that, but I can't let go,"

"Zechs!"

"Good bye, Cassandra."

"Zechs! Zechs, no!" Cassie screamed as the image faded and she stared into the docking bay of the command ship as Duo finally got them inside.

"Cassandra!" Doktor J's panicked voice behind her had her unbuckling herself from the seat as quickly as she could, and she bolted toward the back of the shuttle to help him get Camui out of his seat. Jack followed suit after shutting down the systems and he kicked viciously at the shuttle door until it opened wide and they were able to climb out to the catwalk.

Blood still dripped from Tetsuya's nose and as they stepped down onto the catwalk, his eyes rolled and he collapsed, his sudden fall bringing Doktor J down on top of him.

"Tetsuya!" Cassandra pulled Doktor J up and stared down at Tetsuya's still form, cupping his face in her hands. "Cam? Cam, wake up!"

Jack grasped his wrist and paled. "No pulse,"

"No!" Cassandra cried as she hastily began CPR, though her aching side prevented it from being effective. "No, Tetsuya! Don't do this! Tetsuya!"

And then, quite suddenly, Howard was there, yanking her away as Sally's medical team ran forward and took over CPR, the defibrillating paddles charging.

"Tetsuya!" Cassandra's voice was strangled as she watched the nurses at work, and she sank to her knees in Howard's arms when they announced, for a second time, that he had no pulse. She cried uncontrollably, staring through her tears at his prone form even as Sally's warm hands ripped her shirt up and began tending to the bleeding wound. Howard continued to hold her as Sally cleaned and sterilized the wound, then wrapped her torso in a thick white gauze.

Neither Howard nor Sally were really sure if Cassandra even noticed they were there, her attention glued to Camui's still, lifeless body.

"S-sally, do something! Help him!" Cassandra screamed at last when the nurses seemed ready to give up. "Sally, please!"

Sally moaned quietly, then shoved the nurse tending to Camui away, prepping the paddles for another jolt. Cassandra continued to cry as Camui's body jolted, as the blue lights on the neural inhibitors stopped flashing and died. The hardware had been fried from the continued electric volts.

"Come on, Tetsuya!" Sally demanded as she used the paddles yet again then continued compressions while they recharged. "Damn you, come on!"

"Onegai," Cassandra begged as she fell forward on the catwalk, Howard's arms tightening around her when she tried to crawl forward. "Onegai, wake up! Onegai. Onegai!"

And then, quite suddenly, Tetsuya's beautiful blue eyes opened and he stared over at her. Sally sat back and shouted out in relief at long last as Cassandra, in a hysterical daze, reached out and grasped the hand he held towards her. They stared at each other for a long time, Tetsuya motionless, Cassandra still held tight by Howard.

"I need to get him into surgery immediately. That hardware needs to be removed as soon as possible," Doktor J said hurriedly as Sally motioned two male orderlies from her medical team over with a stretcher. It took Howard and Sally both to pull Cassandra back, to get her to release Tetsuya's hand so that Doktor J could get him into surgery.

As they watched the medical team hasten out of the docking bay, Duo finally emerged from Deathscythe and slowly joined them.

"It's over. Anubis is dead. Wing Zero destroyed his gundam,"

A strangled gasp escaped Cassandra's mouth and she finally, to Sally's great relief, passed out in Howard's arms.

"The Tallgeese?" Howard finally asked quietly, slowly raising his eyes to stare into Duo's face. "Zechs?"

"Minimal damage," Duo said with a smile after a long pause. "It seems that interlink Cassie installed in the gundams was similar to the wireless device that allowed the Diabolos to be piloted by the Cerberus. Tallgeese patched into it, took control of Diabolos and knocked herself free. Heero hasn't been able to hail to Zechs, though, and thinks he may have passed out from his injuries. Diabolos and Anubis' gundam were both destroyed. Tallgeese still caught the tail end of the blast, which disabled some of her systems, so Wufei is bringing her in now. In the meantime, Heero and Trowa headed to the colony to restabilize it and restore the power."

Howard sighed in relief. "That's the best damn news I've heard all day!"

...

End Chapter


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The Preventers had sustained heavy damages to their forces. The Mobile Dolls were all but wiped out. If Lady Une had to make an estimate of how many casualties there had been, she'd say they were in the hundreds. There had been so many close shaves that they'd been able to avoid in the depths of space, but there was nothing in the world that could bring back the dead. The woman's hand rested on the glass as her thoughts fluttered back to a time when she'd been younger. Her enemies had only been fifteen, sixteen at most. She'd had the pleasure of meeting Katarina once before when she was in the forced employment of her commanding officer and the man she'd fallen in love with; Treize Khushrenada. Those days seemed so far away now.

The explosions of the laser fire lit up the darkness of space and were quickly extinguished with the lack of oxygen. The battleship Octavia was at the front of the cruisers because it was carrying all of the mechanics and medical staff. Sally Po and Katarina Winner were on that ship.

"You've been unusually quiet, Lady Une." Relena said amidst the hum of the engines. "You'd think you'd be a little more nervous on the bridge of a command vessel."

"This isn't my first time in battle, Miss Relena. The last time I stood on the bridge of a battleship, it was by Colonel Treize's side." The brunette replied, looking back to the stars on the other side of the glass.

"You miss him, don't you?"

"Every day." Une replied. "I wonder what would've become of him sometimes. He would've been with Zechs, I think."

Relena sighed as she shook her head. "Treize was a good man. I think that he was just influenced by the wrong people."

Lady Une nodded. "It's a wonder Katarina doesn't hate me for what we did to her. Colonel Treize wanted nothing more than to have her genius at the start of the Eve Wars. He lost track of her at the launch of Operation Meteor."

"Katarina doesn't hate you because she's a very forgiving person, just like her brother. Quatre and Katarina don't belong in war. Both have too kind of a heart for the pain and suffering." The dirty blonde said.

"You don't understand. The colonel resorted to torture when she wouldn't agree to integrate the Zero System into the Epyon. His final resource was to threaten to hunt Duo Maxwell down and cause him pain. Katarina broke after that. We put the one she loved in jeopardy."

_..._

_ "You still refuse to cooperate then?" Lady Une asked, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of her nose. "You can't hold out much longer with those wounds, Miss Winner."_

_ The disheveled, bloody blonde sneered up at her from behind the bars of her cell and spat at her. "You think I'll help you after you rough me up a little? Think again. I'll never help OZ."_

_ The officer turned up her nose in disgust. "We'll do more than just rough you up. You're a child. You won't be able to handle your injuries much longer. I'm guessing that another few kicks to the ribs and you'll be bleeding internally. How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen? You'll bleed out faster than an adult would. Do you really want to die in a cell?"_

_ Katarina stared up at Une with unbridled hatred. "I'll die in a cell before I help you, you bitch. You can tell that bastard Treize that I said so."_

_ Lady Une's arm shot forward, grabbing the collar of her shirt and causing her to slam into the bars. "Don't you dare speak about Colonel Treize with such disrespect. I will have you know that he wishes to speak to you. He wishes to propose a deal."_

_ Two guards entered the cell block and unlocked the cell. They roughly removed the girl from her prison and followed after Lady Une. The corridors were long and looked much the same. She'd never seen the inside of an OZ facility, but she'd heard from her brother that they all looked the same. They came to a room at the end of one of the corridors. Lady Une entered the pass code and entered, standing aside from the guards and their prisoner. Treize sat placidly behind his desk and stacked some files neatly on the corner. He smiled gently at the teenage girl standing before him with her hands bound in front of her._

_ "Ah, Miss Winner. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."_

_ "You mean after you gave the orders to beat me within an inch of my life?" the teen snarled._

_ "You failed to cooperate with me, Katarina, so I had to find methods of persuasion." Treize said as he studied her._

_ "I'll tell you the same thing I told your lap dog. Torture me all you want, you bastard. I'd rather die in that damned cell than help OZ."_

_ Katarina let out a yelp as Lady Une backhanded her roughly. Treize straightened his uniform jacket before continuing. "Thank you, Lady Une. It would seem that my current methods are no longer working. I have, therefore, brought you here to propose a deal."_

_ "I'm not making any kind of deal with you. You might as well save your breath."_

_ "I'm sorry to hear you say that. Perhaps if I tell you what the deal entails, you may change your mind. Through various resources, I've come to know that you and zero two are quite close. Duo Maxwell, I believe his name is. What if I were to tell you that I know where he is currently? What if I were to also tell you that I could have him brought here and beaten to death in front of you? Would you really want to see that?" Treize asked, linking his fingers together and resting his chin on them._

_ The mechanical prodigy stood stock still and rigid as she stared at the man in front of her. Her chest tightened as her eyes began to burn. She either helped Treize integrate the Zero System or they killed Duo. What choice did she have? Lowering her head, there was nothing she could do to stop the flow of tears as she nodded her head. When she dared to look up and peek at the man through her hair, he was smiling triumphantly._

_ "I thought that might change your mind. I'm glad to see you cooperate willingly. Lady Une, please take Miss Winner to the medical wing and get her cleaned up. As soon as that's finished, bring her to the hangar."_

_ "Yes, sir. I understand."_

_..._

_ About an hour later, Katarina was led to the hangar. Treize was already waiting for her by a computer module. Once she'd made her way to him, he motioned for her to sit down. The blonde teen let her eyes rove over the program quickly before turning to the colonel._

_ "Both the Zero program and the Epyon are fully functional by themselves, but if they're put together, neither works. Your job is make them work as one."_

_ "That wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for one thing. The program for the Zero System seems to be trying to think on its own. I've never seen a software program do that before." Katarina said honestly._

_ Treize leaned over her shoulder to look at the programming as she scrolled through it. "The Epyon refuses to accept the Zero System and I can't seem to figure out why. None of my mechanics can. That's why you were brought here. If anyone can find the solution to my problem, it's you, Katarina."_

_ "It'll take me a few days to figure this out." Kat said grimly. "Some of the program may have to be rewritten to work with the Epyon's mainframe."_

_ "Do what you must. I want the Epyon in perfect working order by the end of the month. We may discuss your fate at that time."_

_ Katarina swallowed thickly as her eyes remained on the computer screen. OZ wasn't going to let her live. She had to face facts. There was little hope that she'd leave this facility alive._

_..._

_ The blonde groaned and rolled her neck before wiping her eyes. Allah's mercy, she'd been working on this program for weeks. Now all the bugs should've been removed. Katarina saved her changes and took the ejected disc from the tray. She moved slowly toward the Epyon that stood proudly before her. The blonde hooked her foot in the stirrup and rode the cable to the Mobile Suit's cockpit. Once she'd entered, she popped the disc into the main computer._

_ The Epyon's mainframe began processing the latest version of the Zero program immediately. Katarina sighed. It had been at least a month and a half since she'd been brought here. The date that the computer had been reading was September twenty-third. She'd turn fifteen tomorrow. As the computer system continued to read the information, Kat wondered where in the world the guys were. Were they okay? They'd probably forgotten about her with all their other missions and helping to end this war. A shrill beeping sounded from the computer as the screen darkened and the word "OZ" flashed across the screen. As she sat back in the seat, she had little idea of what was going to happen next._

_ Katarina watched as the screen displayed text that read "Zero System Activated" as the safety harness seemed to fasten itself around her. It was almost as if some type of hypnosis had been placed on her as she felt emotions and thoughts swirl around inside her that she'd never experienced before. She was suddenly angry for no reason and she knew that this wasn't right. Katarina fought against the harness as she felt her mind slipping. Was this why Treize had wanted the Epyon equipped with the Zero System? Squirming her way out of the safety harness, Kat was panting to catch her breath, feeling a pounding in her chest. She stumbled forward, barely able to catch the cable as she fell out of the cockpit. This system was dangerous. Her foot clumsily searched for the stirrup only to have the cable reach the ground._

_ Her body shook as she tried to get her bearings back. What would Treize do now that he had a working Gundam equipped with the Zero System? Kat stumbled backward and ran into a large body who just happened to catch her. Speak of the devil. The colonel was smiling down at her. "I'm judging by your current physical state that the Zero System works."_

_ "I was able to get the Epyon to accept the Zero System without altering the original program too much." Kat replied, trying to get out of his grasp._

_ "I thought as much. Now, we will discuss what happens to you next. I don't think I'll be able to release you, Miss Winner. I'll need that mind of yours in the future."_

_ There were two slight clicks that came from their right and left as two people had joined them. "The hell you say. Kat's coming with us now, Treize. There's nothing you can do about it."_

_ Kat turned to see Duo snarling as he pointed his gun at Treize. Her brother was on the other side of them. "Get your hands off my baby sister, Treize Khushrenada. She's coming with us. Come stand behind me, Kat."_

_ The blonde quickly complied with his command as Duo moved to bar her from his sight. "You've finally come zero two and zero four. Duo Maxwell and Quatre Raberba Winner. I'd hate to relinquish Miss Katarina's mind to you."_

_ With a wave of his hand, at least a dozen soldiers surrounded them with loaded battle rifles. There was no way that two teenagers with nine millimeters would be able to take on twelve men with standard military issue battle rifles. They were cornered. Treize saw this and watched in an interested manner. The soldier closest to Treize sent him a glance._

_ "We await your orders, Colonel Treize."_

_ "Let them go."_

_ "What?"_

_ "I said let them go." Treize said. "I'll have other opportunities to take Katarina again."_

_ "I doubt that." Duo growled, backing away with his gun in one hand and his other arm stretched back toward Katarina. "Let's go, brother and sister Winner. We've got to get out of here."_

_ Kat felt herself quaking with fear as she curled her fingers around the back of the braided teen's shirt. "How did you two get here?" she whispered._

_ "We brought Sandrock and Deathscythe." Quatre explained. "I'm going to send you with Duo so I can cover the rear when we leave."_

_ Kat merely nodded as she clung to Duo's shirt. The hangar doors behind them slowly lifted as Quatre moved around behind them to cover both sides. Duo reached around behind him and pried one of the girl's hands loose, entwining his fingers with hers. When they were clear of the soldiers, he turned on his heel and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Kat pumped her legs to keep up with him._

_ Once they made it out of the hangar and onto the tarmac, the two pilots split up to man their respective Gundams. Duo grabbed Kat around the waist as they rode the cable up to the cockpit of the Deathscythe. The braided teen adjusted himself in the pilot's seat and fastened his safety harness before pulling Kat onto his lap so that the hatch could close. The blonde wrapped her arms tightly around his neck as Duo flipped a few switches, causing the gundanium alloy mobile suit to jump to life._

_ "Q man, we're lifting off. I doubt Treize will send anyone after us, but make sure that there's nothing on our ass. We don't want to be followed."_

_ "Will do!" the blonde Arabian called, his goggles firmly in place. "Just make sure you get my sister out of here!"_

_ The communications line went dead after that. Katarina hid her face in Duo's hair as they rose into the sky, the force of gravity rocking the Gundam as they rose into the air. The brunette felt her shaking as she sat between his arms. He guided the Deathscythe with unreal precision despite the cramped space._

_ "You know you don't have to be afraid of my piloting skills, Kat. I'm the God of Death. I know how to fly this baby like nobody's business."_

_ Kat didn't raise her head when she spoke. "It's not that. I just didn't think I'd get out of there." She said, pulling herself closer to him. "I thought that the doctors would've had you guys busy and that I'd have to figure something out on my own."_

_ Once the Deathscythe was evened out and put on autopilot, Duo released the controls and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Don't ever doubt us, babe. Not your brother and certainly not me. Those other guys…well, I don't know about them. Now, you don't have to tell me now, but I need to know what Treize wanted you to do. Judging by the cadet uniform that you're wearing, he kept you in pretty good shape."_

_ Kat snorted, shuddering at the mention of Treize's name. "You should've seen me a month and a half ago. I was beaten so badly that you couldn't recognize me. When I finally agreed to help them, the doctor said that I had three cracked ribs, a concussion, more contusions than he could count, not to mention all the cuts and bruises that went with two black eyes and a fractured arm."_

_ "If I'd have seen it, I'd have killed them all." Duo said, his voice startlingly level. "I thought I saw a mobile suit sitting in that hangar. It was different from the usual standard models."_

_ The blonde bit her lip in thought. She couldn't tell them the truth. She'd made the Zero System work with the Epyon. She'd have to rearrange some details. "That's because it wasn't a regular mobile suit. That was the Epyon, OZ's very own Gundam. I listened in to some of the details when Treize didn't think I was listening. There's been no one with the skill to pilot it. He's going to talk to Zechs Merquise about piloting it or, believe it or not, Heero. He knows that the Wing Gundam was lost due to a self destruct mechanism."_

_ "OZ has their own Gundam? Well, we're safe until they find a pilot. What did he make you do, Kat?"_

_ "I…Treize came up with something called the Zero System. It's supposed to trigger the pilot's ultimate survival skill and battle strategy. Almost like a super pilot. Anyway, he couldn't get the Epyon's mainframe to accept the program, so he needed a mechanical super genius. I was the only one who could get the Epyon and the Zero System to work together. I'm…I'm sorry, Duo. I wouldn't have helped them, but…"_

_ "But what, Kat? It must've been something bad if you gave into their wishes." Duo asked._

_ "Treize threatened to come after Q. He said they'd have him brought to the facility and beaten to death in front of me if I didn't help. He'd had sources tailing him for months." Kat said, letting a sob escape._

_ Duo enveloped her in a tight hug, resting his temple on her lips. "You can't blame yourself for that. Your brother was in danger. No one would blame you for what you did…well, maybe Heero or Wufei, but I wouldn't. Quatre wouldn't. Trowa probably wouldn't. You did what you thought was right. That's one of the things I love about you. You do what you have to to keep the people you care about safe."_

_ Kat blinked back her tears as she crushed her lips against Duo's cheek. She inhaled his scent of steel shavings and cologne, reveling in it. She began to weep, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. Treize had been right. They were getting too close. They could be used against one another in a serious situation. _

_"I don't feel like I did anything to keep any of you safe. I helped create a weapon that you'll all be going up against. I can't forgive myself for that. You do so much to help the colonies and the Earth Sphere and I just reversed all of that. I don't see how you can ever forgive me."_

_ "I can forgive you because I was never mad at you to begin with." Duo said gently. "Besides, I couldn't stay mad at you for long anyway. You're too cute."_

_ "Oh please." Kat retorted, rolling her eyes. "You're trying to be smooth and totally killed my pity party."_

_ "That was the point, Kat." The brunette said as he gave her a peck on the tip of the nose. "You're much more fun when you're angry."_

_ "I swear, you're such a jackass sometimes. Why can't you just let me pout?"_

_ Duo smirked as he looked up slightly, touching the tip of his nose to hers. Their faces were so close that Kat could feel his breath on her lips. "What if I told you that I didn't like it when you pout?"_

_ "You're so full of shit, Duo." The blonde said, her voice more than a little nervous._

_ "Do you kiss your brother with that mouth?"_

_..._

As the battle continued to rage on outside, the only thing Katarina could do was watch. Sally stood next to her on the observation deck. Both of them had communications devices over their right ears as they stared straight ahead of them. The younger of the two was busy staring out into the depths of the black void outside the window. Why was it that she'd been thinking of the incident with the Zero System? Perhaps she was afraid for everyone. Shouldn't she have trusted in Cassie's system though?

"What's on your mind? If you think any harder, the cogs will start smoking."

"Sally, have you ever done something wrong when you had no other choice to? By doing this thing, it was to protect someone you loved and at the time they found out about it, you only told them half of the truth. What would you do?" Kat asked.

Sally seemed to ponder this for a moment. "You're talking about the incident with the Zero System? I remember hearing about it from either Wufei or Trowa. You weren't exactly honest?"

Kat shook her head. "I told Duo and the others that I got the Zero program and the Epyon's mainframe to work together. That was partly the truth. The whole truth was that I had to rewrite some of the program to get it to work. There were bugs in Treize's original copy. So in a sense, I was the one that tinkered around with Cassie's Tallgeese System. I didn't say anything when the Zero System was brought up. I was afraid that she'd be mad at me."

"I doubt she would be, Kat, though being pregnant can alter the emotions. She might be angry for a bit. I highly doubt it though. Why did this sudden white lie pop up?" the head of medical staff asked.

"Well, I've survived death by the skin of my teeth twice today. I was thinking that maybe I should tell the truth before I'm unable to. I'm not sure." The blonde mechanic said.

Before the conversation could be furthered, the battleship rocked and swayed violently, sending both women to the floor of the observation deck. Red lights flashed and sirens sounded through every corridor. An announcement rang through every branch of communication line there was.

"May Day! May Day! The Battleship Octavia has been hit! I repeat, the Battleship Octavia has been hit! The engine room is on fire and burning up quickly. Crew and medical staff please report to the docking bay for evacuation. All mechanics prepare for dispatch for repairs. Five minutes to estimated detonation. I repeat, five minutes to estimated detonation."

"Shit." Kat cursed as she scrambled to her feet, pulling Sally with her. "You'd better get to the docking bay. I'm going to round up my mechanics and get the hell out of here."

"Right. You be careful, Kat." Sally said meaningfully as she bolted toward the shuttle's location.

There was static in her ear as a direct line was open. It was one of two people. "Kat, are you alright? We just heard the announcement."

Duo. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm trying to get all my mechanics to the docking bay for dispatch. I'm sure you guys are going to need some repairs before Orion's forces finally retreat."

"You're probably right. These guys just won't quit! Stay safe and hang in there! I love you, Kat." The brunette said.

A watery smile stretched across her face. "I love you too, Duo. We'll see each other when this is over."

Without another moment to lose, Kat sprinted from the observation deck, calling to all of her mechanics as she went. There was little or no time left and this ship was going to explode. She pulled her helmet on quickly as she gave her staff a pep talk, gathering her tools as she went. When they were all assembled, she led them to the hatch as they once again entered the weightless void of space.

...

The battle against Orion's forces remained harsh despite the loss of their leader. Some of the Serpents had retreated, but most were still on the battlefield refusing to give up. Quatre had run out of ammunition and had resorted to using his sickles. Wing Zero and Heavyarms had returned to the battlefield, the re-stabilization of the colony complete. Though he was sure Heavyarms was probably the only one that still had bullets, he knew they'd be running out soon as well. He saw that Wufei was in close combat with one of the enemy Mobile Suits.

The Altron Gundam was grappling with a Serpent, whose pilot should've known never to take on a Gundam. Altron crushed the Serpent's hands before slinging it away from it. The Mobile Suit's pilot was either pissing himself or was too disoriented to know where he was because the side of the Serpent scraped the hull of the Battleship Octavia from bow to stern, leaving a wide nasty gash in the metal. Not a minute and a half later, a distress call went out.

"May Day! May Day! The Battleship Octavia has been hit! I repeat, the Battleship Octavia has been hit! The engine room is on fire and burning up quickly. Crew and medical staff please report to the docking bay for evacuation. All mechanics prepare for dispatch for repairs. Five minutes to estimated detonation. I repeat, five minutes to estimated detonation."

Both Sandrock and Deathscythe headed back toward the cruisers for any sort of assistance that could be given. Duo's voice rang out over the communications line. He was talking to Kat. Knowing that his little sister was okay made him feel a lot better. Quatre would make sure to squeeze the life out of her once this was all over. For now, they had to make sure that everyone was safe. A voice came over his com link as he hit the view screen.

"Quatre, are you close?" Sally asked frantically.

"One hundred meters and closing. What's the matter, Sally?" the blonde asked.

"They bay doors are jammed! The circuitry must've been damaged by the impact. The shuttles can't get out. Do you think you could pry them open for us?"

"Roger that, Sally. I'm heading in to pry the doors open. Make sure all are aboard that are coming aboard because once I pry the doors open, it'll create a vacuum." Quatre said as he guided Sandrock around the side of the damaged hull. The team of mechanics was already out making repairs.

"How are you doing Q? Any major damage?"

Quatre managed a weak smile as he saw his sister floating in front of his view screen. "I'm fine, Kat, but I've got to get these doors open for Sally. If you're too close, you'll get sucked in by the pressure vacuum."

His sister nodded as she floated around to make some thruster repairs to the Wing Zero. She'd also work on the balancers for the buster sword while she was at it. Quatre released the breath he was holding as he positioned the Sandrock's hands on either side of the shield doors. Using everything he had, he pulled with full force, causing the doors to crack a bit.

"Two and a half minutes and counting, Quatre, but there's no pressure." Sally's panicking voice said over the intercom.

"I'm trying, Sally." Quatre groaned as he flipped a few more switches to keep the arm joints from sparking. When the doors finally shot open, three shuttles flew out as fast as they could. There was still about a minute until detonation. "Kat, make sure you and your mechanics are further back! Once this thing blows, it'll be big!"

Katarina nodded, shouting orders to her mechanics and any pilots in the area to get back. The cruisers were all moving away from the smoking ship as a precaution even though it had been further out in front than they had. Once Kat was sure that all her mechanics were out of the way, she felt a large smooth pair of hands slide up beneath her. Looking around quickly, she blinked to see the Deathscythe scooping her up and holding her pretty firmly. The young woman situated herself on her knees as best she could before wrapping her arms around one of the fingers to stay in place.

"It looks like they made it out. I'm glad Q was able to make it in time." The blonde said.

"He'll most likely stay with them until they're clear of the blast zone. Wufei, Trowa, and Noin are watching our backs so that we can make sure that everyone's safe." Duo replied, sounding more at ease now that he had a hold of Kat in some way. "But Zechs and Heero are engaging Anubis head on,"

As Quatre followed behind the shuttles to block them from any sort of explosion when the ship blew, Sandrock was also hit with something he did not expect. Whirling around quickly, the Arabian saw several Orion Mobile Suits zigzagging through the cruisers to get to him. They had resorted to coming around the back of the battleships. Cursing, he fired a few well-aimed shots before turning around and contacting Sally once again.

"Sally, you've got to get those shuttles moving as fast as they will go. We've got bogies on our tail and moving fast through our line of battleships."

The older woman blinked in surprise. "They came from behind. No problem, Quatre. We're almost out of the blast zone."

As the shuttles were racing away, Quatre took further damage to his Gundam. Gritting his teeth, he made sure to speak with Duo one last time before he'd have to concentrate on battle. "Duo, make sure Kat is out of the battlefield! We've got Serpents crawling up through our battleships!"

One significant hit resulted in a small shower of blue flames that caused the Sandrock to jolt violently. He heard the warnings going off in his cockpit and he heard his sister speaking frantically, but the explosion and the jolt must have scrambled his brain a bit.

"Q! Quatre, are you alright?" Katarina screamed through her intercom, sounding very close to tears.

"My power cell just blew." Quatre said flatly.

"Get out of there, Q man." Duo urged. "Kat will get you fixed up enough to get you back to base."

Quatre had no time to reply as he felt intense heat inside of his cockpit. The Battleship Octavia had just exploded. The force of pressure and gas release slammed against the Gundam, shaking it violently. Quatre swore that he hit his head several times on various computer parts and whatnot. That's why his vision was so poor right now. That would also explain the massive amounts of blood rushing from a gash somewhere in his hairline. Sleep was calling to him as the Sandrock continued to quake. He knew that now was not the time to take a nap, but his body was saying otherwise. There were voices calling to him from the com-link, asking if he was okay, but he didn't answer. His time to rest had come as he felt his eyes pulling closed. The voice of his baby sister was the last thing he heard before drifting into the darkness of the void.

"Quatre? Quatre! QUATRE!"

"Duo, I need you!" It was Heero's voice that came over the com quite suddenly, and then Wufei arrived to drag Sandrock into the docking bay of the command ship. Once Heero had relayed his instruction to Duo, he took Katarina to the command ship and left her there, quite reluctantly, thrusting Deathscythe forward into the fray of struggling mobile suits.

Once he reached the shuttle Heero had instructed he see safely through the battlefield, he locked onto it and thrust back toward the command ship.

"Sally, get your ass to the command ship, pronto! I'm making a delivery!" Duo suddenly shouted and they all stared as he blasted toward the docking bay of the command ship with a heavily damaged shuttle.

...

End Chapter.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Cassandra woke with a groan shortly after they had arrived on Luna, and she squinted at the bright fluorescent lights above her. She sat forward on the bed and winced at the sharp pulling sensation she felt at her side.

"Take it easy," Howard urged from the chair beside her bed, startled awake but her sudden movement. "You've had a rough few hours,"

"Howard?"

"Yeah, it's me, kiddo," Howard stood up and perched himself on the edge of her bed, his hands coming to rest at her shoulders so he could get a good look at her. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus six times," She admitted, pressing a hand to her side for a moment. Howard just watched her then released her shoulders.

"Sally got you cleaned and stitched up. You hear that beeping, Cassie? Do you?"

She nodded at him, then glanced at the monitor beside her, her dark eyes shining with tears as she listened to the rhythmic heartbeat of her baby. The monitor pressed to her small rounding belly was bitingly cold, and shifted as she moved. The straps holding it in place were very loose, and she suspected it was because Sally didn't want to aggravate the injury to her side any further.

"Is that…?"

"Yes, sweetie. That's your baby's heartbeat,"

Cassandra smiled softly as she listened to it, and turned to face the man she'd always looked to as a father. Then she frowned and looked away from him, tears filling her eyes.

"Was he really my father?" She whispered. She felt the way Howard tensed beside her and couldn't manage to swallow the lump in her throat this time. She cried quietly as Howard reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

"Not in the way it counts, sweetheart. Never in the way it counts," said Howard quietly while she crumbled miserably in his arms. She'd endured so much in the past few hours, he wasn't sure how much more she could take.

"I can't s-stop c-crying,"

"I know, sweetheart. Just let it all out," he urged sincerely. "Remember what I used to tell you when you were growing up? The rain falls because the sky can no longer handle its weight. Tears fall because the heart can no longer handle the pain. In life we all have a secret we can't confess. A regret we can't take back. A dream we can't reach. And a lover we can't forget. You've had to be so strong for everyone else, it's time to let someone be strong for you."

"His h-heart stopped, Howard,"

"Yes, it did," said Howard as gently as he could. "Doktor J and Sally are working to get that hardward removed,"

Cassandra shuddered, and the strangled cry that escaped her broke his heart. "He might n-not s-survive the surgery n-now,"

"You can't think about that right now," murmured Howard as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She cried into his shirt and he held onto her, unsure what else he could say to comfort her.

"What about everyone else?" Cassandra asked when she finally seemed to regain her composure.

"We lost a few good men. Quatre…"

Cassandra gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, shaking her head wildly.

Howard frowned sadly. "He's alive, but just barely. He's in surgery now and, God willing, will pull through. The rest were all minor injuries, but I definitely wouldn't want to be Sally or anyone on her medical team right now,"

Cassandra nodded as a nurse stepped into the room and greeted them quietly. "Sally says you're good to go if you wanted to stretch your legs for a bit." She reached out and carefully undid the straps to the baby's heart monitor from around Cassandra's belly. "Why don't you go take a walk? The infirmary is going to get a bit crazy before long, and everyone else is on the observation deck. It's become somewhat of a lobby,"

"I'll keep you company," Howard offered and he held out his hand to her after she eased herself off the bed. They walked out of the room together, both their moods solemn and quiet. They slipped out of medical as quickly and quietly as they could and headed up the frantic, busy corridor to the observation deck. Several others were there, namely Duo and Katarina, who both looked a mess.

"Kat," Cassandra murmured as she pulled free of Howard's hold on her and walked toward her friend. "Kat, I'm so sorry,"

The blond lifted her head from Duo's chest and leapt to her feet, her arms wrapped tight around Cassandra's shoulders quite suddenly.

"I'm so glad you're ok!"

Cassandra closed her eyes and hugged the sobbing woman, feeling that lump rising in her throat again as Kat pulled back and cupped her face in her hands.

"I was so worried about you!"

"Thank you," Cassie whispered, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "I was worried about you, too, when I heard the may day from Octavia."

"We all came out all right, I guess," Katarina murmured, turning to look at Duo as he stood up from the bench and wrapped his arms around both women.

"Thank you for the rescue, Duo. I owe you,"

"You don't own me a damn thing, Cassie," He chuckled, pulling back at long last. "Believe me, after the work you two put into getting our gundams back in working order, I'd say you've done more than your part in saving everyone,"

Cassandra looked out through the huge observation window and stared out into space, at the debris field not far from them, and at the cruiser that was surely recovering bodies from the battlefield.

"Not everyone made it back,"

"No," Wufei said as he and Trowa stepped down into the large dome shaped room and joined the small group. His hair was still down and he was still dressed in the business suit he'd worn to the colony, though he had discarded the sport jacket some time ago. "Not everyone. But then again, there's never been a battle that didn't have casualties. But we can honor those who gave their lives for peace,"

Cassandra turned and faced the young Chinese gundam pilot and nodded, unable to say anything.

"How are you holding up, Trowa?" Howard asked after a few moments of sad silence. The man looked like he was fighting hard to keep a neutral face, but he couldn't quite hide the tears in his eyes. Not from such an observant old man such as Howard.

"I'll let you know when Sally brings news about Quatre," Trowa said quietly. He moved between the group toward the observation window and sat on one of the plush benches, staring blankly out into space. A few moments later, Relena, Lady Une and Noin came into the room and joined them.

"Cassandra, I'm glad to see you're all right," Lady Une murmured, sighing heavily. "I'm so glad to see all of you alive and well,"

"I don't know about well," Katarina murmured as she reached out and took Cassandra's hand. "But we're alive, and we're all here together,"

"Yes, and that's what's important," Relena murmured, though her voice sounded strained. She was restless and stressed, that much they could tell just by the sound of her voice, but no one was sure what they could do for her. All in all, not everyone was standing in that room that needed to be, and two of the missing three were very important men in her life.

"The gundams and all of our other remaining mobile suits are accounted for and secure," Heero said as he finally stepped through the doorway. "I managed to get the colony's power control rerouted to a secondary power source Anubis had on reserve in case anything happened to Cerberus. It wasn't hard to find once I hacked into the colony's mainframe. Preventer officers stationed on that colony have already established a base of operations and have taken over the area. They're searching for survivors, but juding by the blast caused by the Cerberus overload, I don't think they'll find too many,"

"Was the blast at least contained to the southern side of the colony?"

"Yes," Heero sighed quietly. "Anubis had Cerberus stored deep within the bowels of the colony. The blast radius wasn't too big, and most of the colony casualties seem to be from the collapse of the Orien Technologies building and several of those that surrounded it. The cruiser hasn't reported any bodies in the immediate area of the colony's southern docking platform where the blast originated. The casualties are surprisingly minimal there,"

"That's good news," Relena's voice shook and Heero turned toward her, concerned. "I'm…I'm so glad,"

Heero smiled softly and took a step toward her, stopping only when she rushed forward and threw her arms around his neck. The others gathered in the room expected him to just stand there as usual, but were happily surprised when his arms came around her and held tight. Cassandra glanced at the gundam pilots gathered in the room and smiled softly. They were all grown men now, and they'd changed and learned so much since the Mariemeia war.

"What are we looking at in repairs?" Lady Une asked, turning her attention to Noin.

"Most of the gundams have minimal damage. Altron and Wing Zero will just need a few replacement casings. Deathscythe and Heavyarms need full leg and arm repair, as well as weapons systems repairs, but they, at least, don't have to be scrapped. Sandrock, however," She flinched and no one else seemed to want to talk about the massacred gundam. It was a miracle Quatre had come out of it alive.

"Was there…" Cassandra paused, trying to keep her voice steady, while her fingers ruthlessly clutched Katarina's hand. "Was there anything left of the Tallgeese?"

There was a tense silence before Heero finally pulled away from Relena and walked toward her.

"The EM pulse from the Cerberus overload took out a lot of her systems. Zechs pushed her to the breaking point to get Anubis' gundam away from your shuttle. The arm joints were pulled so hard they eventually cracked. I've never seen a suit move so quickly. Cassandra, did you know that the interlink com you installed in our gundams was similar to the wireless device within Diabolos that allowed the Cerberus to control it?"

"It was Camui's design anyway, so that doesn't surprise me. Why?"

"Because whatever reprogramming Camui did to the Diabolos gundam before he forced the Cerberus overload, allowed the Tallgeese to access its control system. Main weapons were permanently disabled, but not its mobility,"

"Ok?" Cassandra murmured, unsure why he was telling her this. She was about to ask when another shadow fell over them. Zechs walked in, his head wrapped in gauze, his right arm in a sling, and he smiled at her softly.

"Tallgeese used Diabolos to knock us free, yet still hold Anubis and his gundam in place for the blast from Wing Zero's buster cannon," Zechs walked up to her and wrapped his uninjured arm around her. "She lost some of her primary systems and mobility from the backlash of the blast, but she's all right. A few weeks worth of repairs and she'll be good as new again, Cassie."

Cassandra, stunned, let go of Katarina's hand and threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest and allowing herself another moment to cry for his safe return, but only for a moment. As she pulled away from him, she smacked his uninjured arm as hard as she could. Several times.

"Baka! Stupid! Dumb!" She shouted with each smack, tears pouring down her cheeks. "You are. So. Stupid! Stupid! With a capital dumbass!"

"Cassie…"

"How could you be so stupid!?" Cassandra demanded loudly as she got in one last, good smack and fell against his chest. "Don't ever do that again!"

"I can't make a promise like that, Cassie, and you know that," He tangled his fingers in her hair and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "But I'll do my best,"

"Idiot," She muttered weakly, holding him as tight as she could.

He chuckled and said very quietly, "It's good to know I'd be missed, at least by you,"

She nodded, it was all she could manage.

…

Several hours passed by slowly for the group gathered in the domed observation room, and very little news ever trickled in from the nurses that ran in and out. Katarina was becoming increasingly agitated and anxious over the lack of news about Quatre, and while Trowa was still and quiet, they all knew just how anxious he was also becoming.

Cassandra, though worried, was so exhausted she could hardly think, let alone be anxious. Every now and again, when a nurse would dart past the doorway, her stomach would give a nervous lurch.

She'd been ordered to sit on one of the plush benches in the room while she waited, her exhaustion causing tremors throughout her body that concerned both Zechs and Howard. So she'd sat, both men on either side of her, and had tried to relax as best as she could. She knew the surgery to remove the Cerberus hardware would be a long and delicate one, but she had expected some periodic updates at least.

Zechs, feeling the tremor in her body from where her shoulder was pressed against his, reached down and took her hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. She looked at him and tried to smile, eventually resting her head on his shoulder for the little comfort it gave her.

And then, quite suddenly, Doktor J stepped through the doorway and headed swiftly toward them. Cassandra tried to get up but Howard and Zechs held her still, not wanting her to pull the stitches at her side yet again. Before she could protest, Doktor J reached them and he knelt down in front of her. When he took her hands, Zechs felt the way she tensed and braced for the worst news.

"Is he alive?"

"Yes," Doktor J murmured, giving her hands a warm squeeze. "He's alive,"

"But?" Her voice cracked, but she kept her gaze steady on the old man. Such a strong, beautiful woman, Zechs marveled.

"The repetitive use of the paddles earlier fried the hardware. That's a good thing! It made it a lot easier to remove because it was no longer rooted into his cortex. But when we removed it, we found a brain bleed and two aneurisms that had to be removed. He seized on the table and his heart stopped again,"

Cassandra whimpered and bent forward, trying to take a few deep breaths to keep herself calm while Doktor J tried to explain what happened.

"We had to put him on a ventilator until he stabilized, which was very risky because we still had his head open on the table. There was very minimal swelling and it did go down enough that we could finish the surgery. But there's still a significant amount of swelling. Right now, his vitals are stable, but that could still possibly change. His heart has stopped twice today, Cassandra, and it's weakened his body and his ability to heal. I'm telling you this because I need you to be prepared for the worst. If his heart stops again, he more than likely won't survive,"

They expected her to be upset, to quail at the harsh reality that Doktor J was laying out before her, so they were suprirsed when Cassandra merely closed her eyes and took a very deep, cleansing breath.

"Can I see him?"

"Not yet. He's still in the final legs of the surgery, and we're watching his vitals very closely." Something flickered in the back of the old man's eyes that didn't go unnoticed by either Howard or Zechs, but they clenched their jaws and kept their mouths shut as he continued.

"We're going to put him in a medically induced coma once the surgery is done. We need to make sure the swelling in his brain goes down, and he needs to be as still and silent as possible." His hold on her hands tightened while she merely nodded, her eyes closed tightly, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. "It's only going to be for a little while, until we're sure the swelling has gone down. Do you understand that, Cassandra?"

She nodded again, sniffling, and slowly opened her moist, puffy eyes. He gave her hands another reassuring squeeze and rose stiffly on his old legs.

"Kat?" Zechs called quietly as he and Howard both rose from the bench, intent on speaking with the Doktor a little further on the matter. Kat glanced at him and quickly slipped out of Duo's arms, plopping next to Cassandra in an instant, her arms coming around the older woman's shoulders supportively.

When they were sure Cassandra was occupied, the trio slipped out of the observation room and headed down the hallway.

"The truth, now," Zechs demanded huskily as they rounded a corner where they wouldn't be overheard by Cassandra. Doktor J removed his glasses and cleaned them with the hem of his shirt, looking dismayed.

"Doctor Lamb was on the Orion payroll,"

A sharp intake of breath was heard, followed by a lewd curse, but Doktor J wasn't sure which of the two men standing with him had made either of the noises, and so continued softly.

"She attempted to botch the surgery. However, she'd looked familiar to me and I'd been watching her like a hawk. I was able to stop her sabotage before she got too far, however…" His voice trailed off and Zechs rubbed his face with his uninjured hand, turning away to pace the small length of hallway.

"The coma isn't medically induced, is it?" Howard asked quietly and Zechs cursed vehemently.

"No, it's not,"

"And you just lied to Cassandra. In a few days time, when that swelling goes down," Zechs paced back toward him looking furious. "When he doesn't wake up, what the hell are we supposed to tell her?"

Doktor J shook his head sadly. "I'm hoping it won't come to that,"

"And if it does?"

He shrugged and Zechs cursed, pacing away again.

"What are you going to do, Zechs?" Howard asked quietly and finally, after a long moment, the blond soldier stopped and slowly turned toward them, looking angry and pale and very much the torn nobleman.

_Oh, Zechs, how you resemble your father,_ Howard thought as he watched the man struggling with the decision.

"We can't tell her," Zechs murmured at long last, sighing deeply. "We can't, not yet. We'll give Camui a chance to wake up on his own, and if he doesn't, we'll cross that bridge…"

Howard nodded slowly and let out his own pained sigh. "Let's get back there before she gets too upset. Sally wants us keeping her as calm as possible,"

...

The atmosphere in the observation deck was one of subdued anxiety, and it was quiet, too quiet. Sally had finished Camui's surgery and had gone swiftly in to aid in Quatre's surgery without stopping to give any updates.

Doktor J had briefly popped in to tell Cassandra that they were moving Camui to his own room and inducing the coma, and that it would be several hours yet before she would be able to see him, and then he'd vanished again.

Two hours later, there was still nothing but tense, stoney quiet.

Zechs and Howard had come back into the room shortly after they had escorted Doktor J back to the OR, and had both reclaimed their seats on either side of Cassandra. Kat had returned to her bench with Duo and her head now rested in his lap, her beautiful eyes red and puffy from crying, though she was quiet as Duo's long, slender fingers tenderly stroked through her hair. She looked so lost, so completely and utterly exhausted.

Cassandra studied her face for a long time, smiling softly. Kat really was a beautiful woman. She prayed Quatre pulled through his surgery successfully. They couldn't afford to lose him, and not just because of his expert piloting skills, but because he was such a great human being and friend. Such caring and compassion was so rare these days, it would be a real tragedy to lose someone as beautiful as that boy.

Zechs shifted beside her, draping his uninjured arm along her shoulders, tucking her tight against his side, and she leaned into him gratefully, stifling the yawn that claimed her behind her hand.

"You need to be resting," Zechs murmured as he tilted his head and kissed her hair, grateful that she didn't push him away or protest his tender attention. She shrugged halfheartedly and lay her head on his shoulder. His chest tightened, seeing the lost look on her beautiful face. She'd been through hell and back in the last few days and he marveled over her strength. His beautiful, beautiful Cassandra. He squeezed her gently and looked toward the doorway when movement caught his eye.

It was Doktor J and Cassandra stood up abruptly, staring at him hopefully. Zechs slowly stood up with her, resting his hand at the small of her back for support. Her legs were shaking so badly, he wasn't sure they could hold her any more.

"He's resting well, the coma has been induced, and you can see him now," Doktor J reached out and and clutched her knotted fingers in his fleshy fist. "Don't let the sight of him overwhelm you, Cassie. It will be very scary and hard to take in, but I have faith that you can handle it."

She nodded, her bottom lip caught between her teeth again, and she was grateful that Zechs offered her his arm as Doktor J turned and led them out of the room and down the hallway.

"Aren't you going, Howard?" Noin asked quietly when the older man didn't make a move to follow.

"No," He murmured and shook his head. "Zechs has her well and truly taken care of. The less people crowding her right now, the better."

Noin nodded faintly and turned to stare back out into the vastness of space for a moment before she took a deep breath and faced the group. "I'm going to head down to the hangar and see if I can help with the cleanup."

The atmosphere in the room returned to the oppressive quiet.

…

_Oh, Tetsuya…_

Cassandra's heart sank as she crossed the threshold of the room Camui now occupied. The sight of the wires and the monitors, and the tube that led from his mouth to the ventilator beside his bed made her dizzy. Her hand flew up to her mouth as she stared in at him. He just looked like he was sleeping peacefully, but she knew better, and it made her ache all over.

Zechs touched the small of her back gently and she slowly walked into the room. She reached for Camui's hand where it rested on the bed and was surprised by how soft and warm it felt in her hand. She squeezed it gently then slipped into the chair beside the bed and pressed her forehead to the back of his palm, crying in earnest. Zechs leaned against the doorway and watched her quietly, wanting to run to her and wrap her in his arms, knowing it would do no good. This woman, this glorious, stupid, stubborn woman who had been so reckless and ran after the man lying in that bed, was everything to him and so much more, and she was pregnant with his child. She'd come so close to losing that precious little life inside of her, but even after all of that, she had seemed so strong, so prepared.

He was dismayed to see her so heartbroken now, when she'd seemed so strong before.

Slowly, quietly, Zechs walked up to her and pulled her gently out of the chair, sliding into it and pulling her into his lap. Cassandra didn't protest the move, and pressed her face into his chest and sobbed inconsolably. He draped his uninjured arm around her and gently, soothingly, stroked her back, pressing his lips against her hair.

"Oh, baby," He whispered, clutching her close. "My beautiful, beautiful, Cassie. Don't cry, baby, please. I'm right here with you. Please, I can't stand to see you cry like this,"

His soothing strokes along her back continued for what seemed like an eternity, but he never stuttered in his movement even once. And when her crying finally subsided, when she was able to take a full breath again, he continued the soothing motion along her back because he knew she was drawing comfort from it.

"Zechs…"

"It's all right, baby. I'm right here," He soothed, pressing another kiss into her hair. "I'll always be here,"

"Thank you," Cassandra croaked, shuddering out another anguished sob against his chest. "I'm sorry I fell apart. It's just...I almost lost him again, Zechs. I watched them trying to restart his heart, I saw how weak he was and then walking in here, seeing all this," She waved at all the machines and the tubes and wires with her hand and looked so frail. "I just…I broke. Oh, it hurts, Zechs. It h-hurts so m-much,"

"I know, baby, I know," He murmured, squeezing her tight as another round of sobs claimed her. She was such a beautiful, crumbling mess in his arms. "I'm right here with you and I'm not going anywhere, Cassie, I promise. Shh,"

...

Sally stepped out into the hallway and quietly closed the door to the room where she'd set Quatre up and walked across the tiled floor to the wall, pressing her pale, exhausted face against the cool steel. Her body ached, her fingers were stiff, and anxiety pumped through her veins like a poison. She was shakey, tired, and terribly, terribly stressed. Nothing was going right, nothing at all. So many close calls today, so many agonizing surgeries and that annoying, startling question of what if, what if, what if?

Diabolos had almost destroyed the cruiser. Kat had almost been blown to pieces, they'd nearly died, and then Duo had come barreling into the hangar of the cruiser with a shuttle so devastated she still couldn't fathom how the passengers survived. Then seeing Camui collapse, hearing the panicked, authoritative voices from her orderlies as they tried to revive him. Cassandra's panic and anguish as Howard ruthlessly clutched her in order for Sally to sterilize and wrap her wounded side. And then that heartbroken, pleading look from Cassandra when the orderlies were giving up on Camui.

She remembered that painful rush of adrenaline as she had shoved over one of them and had taken over CPR for the last few minutes. She remembered the sound of the pattles as they shocked Camui's body over and over again. She remembered the sweet, agonizing relief she had felt when his heart restarted and he opened his eyes.

And then the alarms sounded again behind her eyes as she recalled Doctor Lamb viciously sabotaging the surgery that was supposed to save him. The cardiac arrest for a second and third time. The coma…

He'd survived, barely, and there was still a chance he wouldn't recover. And Quatre. Beautiful, sweet, amazing Quatre.

Sally pressed her palms to her face and choked on a sob, using the heel of her palms to press into her eyes, trying to stop the tears, trying to get a grip on herself.

She was exhausted, mentally, physically, emotionally. And she was scared. So, so scared.

"Sally,"

"Ah!" She cried out in sweet, sweet relief and slipped to her knees on the cold tile, sobs rendering her useless as that sinfully sweet Chinese accent drifted over and through her. "Wufei!"

"Hey, I'm here," His arms were around her a second later and he held tight to her, his lips pressed against her shoulder as he slipped behind her on the floor. "I'm here, Sally,"

She hadn't realized how scared she'd been for his wellbeing until now, and it was gutwrenching. She turned in his arms and threw her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck, her hands fisting in the long, silky black locks of hair that were still hanging loosely around his face.

"I've got you, Sally. I'm not letting go,"

She nodded, still crying, and marveled over how different he felt in her arms now that she knew how close she'd come to losing him.

"Oh, Wufei! Please, please, just hold me!"

His hold on her tightened significantly and he nodded, pressing his nose into her disheveled golden hair. Oh, how he loved this woman.

"You need to sleep, Sally."

"No…not yet. I…I need you, please, Wufei,"

He stood up slowly, bringing her with him, then scooped her up and carried her down the hallway. "I'm with you, Sally. I promise,"

...

End Chapter.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Time had run together as the nurses had rushed in and out of the room. They'd been able to pry the cockpit of the Sandrock open only to find her brother unconscious. As soon as she'd been able to return to the Lunar base, Katarina had rushed to the medical wing only to be stopped by Trowa. No matter how she struggled against him, the nameless soldier held her from entering the room.

"They're stabilizing him now, Kat." Trowa said softly. "Give them a little bit."

The blonde looked up at him with glazed eyes as she fisted his shirt. "Have they said anything? How is he, Trowa? How is my brother?"

Trowa sighed as he rested a hand on her head. "Not a word. Sally hasn't had enough time to do the necessary tests. I know this is hard for you to hear, but you're just going to have to wait."

Kat bit her lip as she felt the tears begin to fall. "This is all my fault. After I looked at Sandrock, there was already some laser damage to the power cell. If I'd have seen that and repaired it, the power cell might not have exploded."

The short-haired brunette sat with her on a bench in the hallway as she hid her face in her hands and draped his arm loosely over her shoulders. "Don't you dare blame yourself. Quatre wouldn't. I know your brother as well as you do. He wouldn't want you to shoulder this."

Katarina continued to sob as she nodded in response. Trowa's words, however, had no effect. Zero three wondered where the hell Duo was. Wasn't he the one who was supposed to be with her right now instead of him? Last he'd checked, the braided brunette was on his way into the docking port with a damaged shuttle. He'd be here in a matter of minutes. Trowa had never been one to openly show concern for another person, so he was uncomfortable. He was saved a few moments later as Duo came running down the hallway and slid to a stop in front of them, panting. He hadn't even taken his jumpsuit off. None of them had. Kat was on her feet and flinging herself into his arms immediately as she wept into his chest.

"No word on Q man's condition yet, Trowa?"

He shook his head. "Sally should be about done with the tests. Hopefully we'll know something soon."

As if to answer, the room's door slid open. A team of nurses pushed a stretcher out with Quatre's unconscious form on it and headed down the hallway. Kat bit her lip as she looked expectantly at Sally, who was the last to emerge. The woman hung her head. "Quatre's on his way to surgery. He's got a severe concussion and six broken ribs. There's heavy internal bleeding, so we're going to have to find the source."

"Will he…will my brother…" Kat stuttered weakly, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"If he wakes up in the next few hours, he'll make a full recovery. With the concussion, however, if he doesn't wake up soon, he'll be stuck in a coma." Sally said, moving past them, resting a hand on Kat's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kat."

The mechanic felt the strength drain out of her body as she slumped heavily on Duo. Her frame wracked with a fit of sobs as the brunette pilot's expression set into a grim scowl and he tightened his hold on her. All they could really do know was pray. Pray that Quatre had the strength and the will to come back to them. Pray that Sally could stop the bleeding. Pray that Katarina would make it through this if he didn't survive. He prayed to God that Father Maxwell and Sister Helen were watching out for him somewhere up there. If there was one thing he could ask, it was to let Quatre live.

...

"I need fifty CCs of methadone and I want an IV started, STAT!" Sally shouted as she finished washing her hands and pulled on a pair of latex surgical gloves. "Quit wasting time people! Quatre could be dying on the table!"

Monitors of every sort had been hooked up to the blonde Arabian as well as an oxygen mask. He was the reason that all of these people were here now. He'd been able to get the bay doors of the Battleship Octavia open and allowed them to escape. Sally's eyes hardened as she grabbed her scalpel and made an incision in the lower abdomen. She winced as soon as she got through the tissue and was met by standing blood. There was an injury to the intestinal tract.

"Sally, he's losing a lot of blood!" a nurse shouted, panicked.

"I can see that!" Sally snapped, starting to suction the crimson liquid out of the abdominal cavity. "Get me seventy units of Type O in here, now! If we don't start replacing some of it, he'll go into—"

The heart monitor at the head of the operating table beeped loudly as the small green line on the screen went flat. Sally thought her heart was going to stop in her chest. The Saudi had gone into cardiac arrest, perhaps even shock. In a split second decision, she shouted her next command to anyone that was listening.

"Get the defibrillator in here! I need twenty CCs of saline and now! We're working on borrowed time, people! Move faster!"

A nurse handed her a syringe of saline as Sally drove it into Quatre's chest. Juicing up the defibrillator, another nurse prepared for body contact. "Clear!"

Sally worked on suctioning the blood and patching the internal wound as the male's body jumped at the electric shock. Nothing. The nurse prepared for another round as the surgeon went diligently about her work.

"Clear!"

Another jump and no response. The line on the screen was still flat. Panic hit Sally as she found the wound and sutured it closed. Removing the remaining blood, she began to close the abdominal incision. As she was just finishing, the nurse made another attempt to jumpstart Quatre's heart.

"Clear!"

With the final jump, the heart monitor began to beep once again. Sally clutched the front of her apron as she slumped against the wall. Quatre was back with them. She sighed as she injected an antibiotic into the IV. The worst was over. Now came the wait.

"Good work, people. Wheel Quatre to recovery and monitor his vitals. He's not in the clear yet."

...

After Zechs had taken Cassandra to the room where Camui was being monitored and the chaos in the hallways had died down, Katarina, Duo and Trowa had all left the observation deck to be closer to Quatre in case there was any news.

The small blonde mechanic was stoic as she sat in the hallway outside of the operating room between Duo and Trowa. She'd cried all of her tears on the way and fatigue was the only thing left. She'd come straight from the battlefield to the medical ward. Now the strain was taking its toll. Anti-gravity didn't do a thing for her.

Kat's head shot up as she heard the door open and sprung to her feet when she saw Sally. The woman looked tired. "Sally, how's my brother?"

"If he wakes up within the next couple of hours, he'll make a full recovery. He has a severe concussion, Kat. If Quatre doesn't wake up, he'll stay in a coma."

The blonde's face crumpled as fresh tears welled in her eyes. Katarina took a few deep breaths before asking her next question. "Did he do okay in surgery?"

Sally sighed as she shook her head. "I thought we lost him for a few minutes. He went into cardiac arrest on the table and it wasn't until the third round of defibrillation that he came back."

"Can I…can I see him?" Kat asked hesitantly.

"He's in recovery. Kat, please don't be too shocked by what you see."

Katarina took off back down the hall as quickly as her legs would carry her. Duo and Trowa were hot on her heels and none of them were waiting for Sally. As soon as she walked into the recovery room, she stopped immediately. Duo mumbled an apology after running into her. Quatre lay in front of her strapped to an oxygen mask and a heart monitor. She had _never_ seen her brother look so feeble or so frail. She made it to his bedside in a few steps. The blonde took his hand and pressed the back of it to her lips before resting it against her cheek.

"You're horrible for making me worry like this, Q. If you can hear me, please…please come back." She begged.

"Kat?" Sally called gently as she stepped into the room. "I want you to know that as Quatre's only living relative present, he came to me before the battle with Orion and signed a DNR form."

"D…N…R?" her strained voice asked, her brain not grasping the meaning of the words spoken to her.

"Do Not Resuscitate, sweetie. Quatre wants the machines turned off if he doesn't wake up."

Katarina did not bother to hide her anguished sobs as she released her brother's hand and brushed a lock of platinum blonde hair from his closed eyes. She turned to Duo and hid her face in his shirt. Duo coiled his arms around her tightly. He rested his cheek against her hair and let her cry.

"I'm sorry, Kat." Duo whispered. "I'm so sorry."

The younger Winner child did not respond as she continued to weep into his chest. Bringing a hand up to smooth her hair, Duo sighed heavily. There would be no convincing her to sleep even though she'd been up damn close to forty-eight hours now. Katarina would stay by her brother's side until whatever end came. The brunette shifted his gaze to his Saudi companion. He wasn't sure how he'd react if Quatre didn't pull through. The six of them had been together since they were barely teenagers. They were closest thing to family that any of them had.

Sally looked on a bit longer before swallowing the lump in her throat. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go speak with Lady Une. Some of the nurses will be back in about half an hour to move Quatre to a step-down unit."

With that, she left her grieving friends behind and made her way down to the main hangar area where Lady Une would most likely be.

...

Noin had been on edge for the past several hours after returning to the Lunar base, but comparing the Mobile Suits in the hangar with those on her clipboard page said otherwise. XXXG-00W0; Wing Zero. Check. XXXG-01D2; Deathscythe Hell. Check. XXXG-01H2; Heavyarms. Check. XXXG-01SRC; Sandrock. Noin cringed as her eyes shifted to the severely damaged Gundam. Jesus, it was a miracle that Quatre had come out of the thing alive. It was accounted for, but not usable. Not applicable. XXXG-01S-2; Altron. Check.

The dark-haired woman sighed as her attention was diverted by a quickly approaching Sally. The military doctor had a strained, exhausted expression on her face as she pulled to a stop in front of her. Noin lowered her clipboard and her lips pressed into a straight line.

"Before you even ask, Quatre is out of surgery. He's not out of the woods yet. If he doesn't wake up in a few hours, I don't think he's going to." Sally said grimly.

"Jesus. How is Kat taking it?" the pilot asked.

"About as well as I expected." The other woman stated. "She's falling to pieces. The thought of losing her brother is too much for her to handle. That, and with the small amount of sleep she's had, she'll probably pass out from exhaustion in the near future."

"I take it that you're looking for Lady Une." Noin stated.

Sally nodded. "I expect she's in the hangar office with Miss Relena."

"Relena's already headed back to Earth Sphere to announce the end of the war. There will be press conferences and things of that nature for her to take care of. Being the Vice Foreign Minister is a difficult job for one so young." Noin replied, shaking her head.

Sally wasted no more time as she headed the rest of the way to the hangar office. Lady Une was bound to know the details of Camui's surgery by now, and knew she'd want an update on Quatre.

As she passed the Altron gundam from the catwalk, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She hadn't seen Wufei yet, but she knew he was OK. That was just one more person she wanted to see after she briefed Lady Une on Quatre's condition and made the last of her rounds for the night.

...

The stiffness of the chair by the bedside was of no concern as weary blue eyes kept a constant vigil over the still figure that lay before them. The gentle rise and fall of the man's chest signified that he was alive and unconscious. Katarina rubbed her face in a tired manner as she clutched her brother's hand with her other. She rested her chin on the mattress as she stared at Quatre's bruised and cut face as he merely seemed to be sleeping. The nurses had come and gone to check his vitals, but said nothing of his condition. She could see it herself. There was no change.

With each hour that passed, the chances of Quatre's waking up grew smaller. Kat was painfully aware of that. The steadily moving hands on the clock reminded her that she was losing her brother. There had been no sign of him waking up. Not even a fluttering of the eyelids. Duo had tried several times to persuade her to get some sleep, but the mechanic wasn't having it. As near as she could figure, she'd been awake for forty hours already; almost two days. Trowa had brought her something from the mess hall and left it on the table. The food remained on the table, untouched.

"Do you remember when we were kids, Q?" she asked quietly. "You were always looking out for me. Even after you became pilot zero four. I was your baby sister and no one was going to put a hand on me. You even got mad at Duo once for telling you I was hot. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't look out for you. Some baby sister I turned out to be, huh?"

"You can't beat yourself up like this, babe." Duo said as he entered the room. "Q man wouldn't want that. He always wanted you to be happy, no matter what. I don't blame you. I know Quatre doesn't blame you. You shouldn't blame yourself, Kat."

"But…I want my big brother back." Kat choked. "I never thought…going into this battle, not once did I think…"

"War is unpredictable." Trowa commented as he leaned against the door frame. "Anything can happen at any time. Quatre knew that. You may not have been expecting it, but you knew that too, Katarina."

"That bastard Anubis caused all of this. I won't forgive him for what he's done." Katarina hissed, fighting the tears that welled in her eyes. "I can't."

Duo approached the chair where she was seated slowly and placed his hand on her shoulder. "No one would expect you to. Quatre is going to open his eyes any minute now. You just wait and see."

The blonde gave a bitter laugh as she looked up at him and back at the clock. "If you haven't noticed, Sally said that if Q didn't wake up in the next couple of hours, he wouldn't wake up at all. It's been six hours since he came out of surgery."

"Quatre was always a late bloomer." The braided brunette chuckled. "Come on, Kat. At least come with me to get some coffee if you refuse to sleep. Trowa will take good care of him while we're gone. I promise. Please?"

Katarina allowed him to pry her hand away from Quatre's and help her to her feet. She suspected that he'd acquired a sedative from Sally. That sleeping pill in the coffee had worked once before and she wasn't going to fall for it again. "I think I'm going to get some sleep. Walk me to my quarters, Duo?"

A large smile placed itself on his lips as he draped his arm over her shoulder. "Sure thing."

"Trowa, let me know if Q wakes up, would you?"

"Of course."

With no other words, the couple set off down the corridor to the mechanics' and soldiers' quarters. They arrived in silence as Kat stood outside the door, gazing up at him. Duo smiled as he rested his forehead against hers. Kissing her sweetly, he didn't move from his current position.

"I've still got some follow-up business to take care of for Lady Une. You get some sleep and I'll join you in a couple of hours, okay?"

Kat nodded. "Okay."

"I love you, Kat, and don't you forget it."

A light chuckle escaped her as she rested her hands on his hips. "I love you too, Duo. I'll see you soon."

Stealing another kiss before he left, Duo left her standing in front of the door as he went in search of Lady Une. Kat stayed in her place until she was sure that he was out of sight. She turned quickly and headed the opposite direction that he did and headed back toward the hangar. Sandrock would need repairs and she wasn't sure she'd be able to handle seeing it in its current state.

...

It had been several hours since Duo had taken Katarina from the room. Six, if he'd been keeping track correctly. Trowa had taken up the youngest Winner's post by the bedside. When he was sure that no one was in sight, he firmly laced his fingers with Quatre's. He knew the cause of Katarina's worry. It had been twelve hours since the blonde pilot had come out of surgery and he hadn't so much as stirred. Fear had overcome her and Sally's words had scared her to death.

Trowa realized the grim truth of things. Quatre may never wake up at this point. He'd already been unconscious for too long. His features were uncharacteristically soft as his gaze shifted to the blonde man's face. Taking a deep breath, he made a decision that he'd been debating on for years. With his free hand, he brushed his fingers through the platinum bangs that rested on Quatre's forehead. A small sad smile curved his lips as he studied his long-time companion in his incapacitated state.

"I know that I should've said something to you before this, Quatre. When the unexpected happens, fear grasps us. I feel like I've waited too late." He stated without any hint of the fear he was feeling.

Quatre lay unresponsive to his words, but that didn't discourage his thoughts. Trowa gazed on the blonde in such a tender manner that anyone seeing such an expression would've wondered whether this Trowa Barton and the Trowa Barton on the battlefield earlier were the same person. Shaking his head, he decided to continue.

"We became friends when we were young. I didn't think much of that friendship until we began to spend more time together. I began to feel something stirring in my cold heart. To everyone else, I was just 'nanashi'…no name. To you, I was Trowa. I was something. I was your friend. That made me feel…needed."

Trowa diverted his gaze to the clock face that mocked him on the opposite wall. His time was running out quickly. He needed to let Quatre know how he felt before Sally returned to turn the machines off. It had come down to that, hadn't it?

...

When she'd first seen the Sandrock, she felt her heart break. Kat wondered how her brother had lived with his Mobile Suit returning in such shape. Grabbing a small bag of tools, she set to work stripping the wire that had been fried from the explosion of the power cell. That didn't seem like too hard of a job.

The next time she looked down at her cell phone, six hours had passed. How had time gone by so fast? Panic seized her as she grabbed the cable and slid down quickly. She broke into a sprint across the hangar floor. Duo, who happened to be talking to Noin, matched her pace and met her by the doors. He forced her to stop as she looked up at him, panting and her cheeks flushed. Her hair was bedraggled and if he wasn't so worried about her, he'd focus on how hot she was in that instant and all the things he wanted to do to her.

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be sleeping?" he said in a suspicious tone.

"Couldn't sleep. Didn't try." She answered as she tried to even out her breathing. "I was working on Sandrock and lost track of time. Duo, it's been six hours."

As if to confirm this, Sally entered the hangar with a grave expression on her face. Duo shot her a disapproving look, as if something had passed between them, but said nothing. Sally turned her attention to Kat. "It's been twelve hours. I…I don't think Quatre's coming back, sweetie. I'm…going to turn the respirator and the oxygen off."

The blonde's eyes widened in horror as she stared at the military doctor. "What? No! Sally, you can't! Quatre is going to wake up! He's got to!" she cried frantically.

"I'm sorry, Kat." Sally said softly. "It's what Quatre wanted. I'm on my way back there now. You can come with me…so he won't be alone."

"No!" the blonde shouted frantically. "My brother is not dead! He's going to be alright! Q is not going to die!"

"Kat…" Duo murmured, his throat tightening as he grasped her shoulders firmly. "I think you're going to have to let him go…"

"Duo's right, honey. Quatre's not going to wake up." Sally confirmed gently.

Katarina's entire body began to shake as she failed to respond. She'd lost him. Sally had just confirmed it. Quatre was gone. The room around her began to spin slowly and only quickened as she tried to move toward the door. Her body was sluggish as she tried to move, but only felt herself falling backward before everything went dark.

Duo was fast enough to let her fall against him as he hugged Kat to him tightly. She'd finally blacked out and he wasn't sure if it was because of the emotional stress or the exhaustion. Picking her up gently, he turned his scowl on Sally. She bit her lip as she lowered her eyes, unable to look at him.

"Take her to the medical ward, Duo. Kat hasn't eaten or slept in over two days. The emotional trauma put more strain on her than she let on. She's probably dehydrated too. The nurses will fix her up. Tell her…I'm sorry."

Duo said nothing as he moved past her as he made his way to the medical ward. Once he was sure that Kat was okay and comfortable, he had one other patient to visit. There was information that had to be passed on that would otherwise be kept a secret.

...

_**Four doors down **_

_**There's a man who just won't wake up**_

_**He crashed so hard**_

_**And the doctors wanna pull the plug**_

_**Your wife is by your side**_

_**Saying not tonight**_

_**Praying God will just show up…**_

"My time is short, Quatre. Sally will be back soon." Trowa said, a trace of urgency in his voice. "This is not at all how I imagined that things would turn out. Before you're taken away from me for good, there's something I need to tell you. I…"

The nameless soldier paused in his confession for a brief moment when he felt the fingers that were intertwined with his tighten their grip ever so slightly. His eyes widened a bit, allowing him to hope for the first time in two days. Perhaps if he continued talking…

"I should've told you years ago; Right after we destroyed the Gundams. You may be appalled by what I have to say. Most people are disgusted by what I'm feeling, but you of all people have the right to hear them. You may despise me for this, but I'll tell you anyhow. Quatre…I'm in love with you. I love you."

Trowa, for the first time in his life, felt ashamed. He lowered his head and refused to look at his companion's face. At least now he held no regrets. He could stem his bleeding heart and return to the stoic clown that he'd always been. Sally would be here at any moment to turn off the machines. As he moved to loosen his fingers, he found that he couldn't pull his hand away. The pale hand in his grasp was holding tight.

"…owa..Tr..owa…"

False hopes had led him to hearing things. He couldn't allow himself to be so naïve. He refused to look up from the mattress.

"Trowa."

Daring to lift his gaze, he saw a pair of blue eyes looking wearily at him. His lips parted in surprise as he felt his heart skip a beat. Quatre had survived. He'd woken up. Trowa knew that he should call someone but couldn't bring himself to break the stare. The blonde reached up slowly with his free hand and removed his oxygen mask. Wasting no time, that free hand caught the brunette by the back of the neck and tugged him closer; their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"Next time you have a confession to make…" the Saudi said in a strained, raspy voice, "…don't wait until I'm on my death bed."

"Quatre?"

The blonde tilted his chin up to close the gap between them, his lips brushing against Trowa's gently. The nameless soldier closed his eyes and savored the moment. He had the sense that things were going to be all right. The fighting was over. The harsh clearing of a throat caused them to break apart and stare at the doorway. Sally was there with her arms crossed over her chest. A smirk was tugging at her lips.

"I see you're awake, Mr. Winner. I'm sure that your sister would be relieved to hear it if she weren't a couple of rooms down from yours."

"What's wrong with Kat?" Quatre asked quietly, his brow furrowing.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious." Sally reassured him. "Little Miss Mechanic hasn't had food or sleep for two days because she's worried herself sick about you. She finally passed out when I told her that I was on my way back to switch your machines off. Then I come to find you romancing Mr. Barton. I dare say that you're going to be recovering quickly."

A blush coated Quatre's cheeks as Trowa sat on the side of his bed smirking, their hands still linked. "I guess Katarina will have to wait a day or two to learn of your recovery."

"Now that everyone else is taken care of, I have one more patient to check in on." Sally said, turning.

"Camui." Quatre murmured.

...

When Duo left Katarina's room, he took a left down the hall. It was in the opposite direction of Quatre's room, so he had no idea that his friend was awake. Sally was currently occupied, so she didn't see him either. Finding the door he wanted, he knocked gently. Upon hearing the soft reply, he entered. Cassandra was sitting alone in her bed, casting him a curious look.

Running a hand through his chestnut bangs, Duo sighed uncomfortably. Cassie noticed this and was the first to speak. "I'm guessing that you're here to bring some kind of news. Aren't you missing your better half?"

"She's next door to you sleeping." Duo answered casually.

"What happened?" the woman in front of him asked, her face showing concern. "Is Kat all right?"

"She's exhausted and dehydrated. She's been up for over two days now worrying about Q man. Sally told her that she was going to shut the respirator off and she blacked out."

"Oh God. Poor Kat. So there's been no change in Quatre?"

"Not the last time I heard."

Cassie had taken to studying him carefully. "I don't think you came here to talk to me about Quatre's health."

Duo took the empty chair next to the bed and turned the back toward her, straddling it. "You're right. I didn't. Cassie, there's something I need to tell you. Something important."

...

End Chapter.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Twenty minutes later, after Duo had slipped out of her room and quietly closed the door behind him, Cassandra found herself staring blankly at her knotted fingers resting in her lap. She felt hollowed out and empty.

Camui's coma hadn't been medically induced after all. Maybe that would have been the plan if that other surgeon hadn't interfered. What she couldn't understand was why they had lied to her about it. They could have just told her, Doktor J had insisted she be prepared for the worst, so what difference would it have made then?

"Why didn't they tell me?" Cassandra whispered as she stared down at her shaking hands. After a moment, she smiled softly and brought those shaking appendages up to her belly, splaying her fingers out over herself. "It's because of you, my little miracle. I came so close to losing you. Considering how close I came to losing your daddy, too, I guess I can understand. I'm so sorry, baby. I've been such a poor mother to you already,"

"That's not true,"

Cassandra smiled slightly as she looked up at Trowa who now stood in the doorway. He was smiling, his cheeks were flushed, and he just seemed so relaxed. Her lips parted in surprise and she smiled warmly.

"Quatre woke up!"

He nodded once and leaned against the door frame. "Just a few minutes ago. Sally said I was getting in the way of her doctorial fussing and so kicked me out of the room. I was going to tell Kat, but she's out cold and hasn't slept in days. Figured I should leave her alone. I was on my way to find Duo when I saw you were awake." He tentatively moved toward her, holding out his hand. "Can you feel her move?"

"Not yet," Cassandra breathed as Trowa gently pressed his warm hand to her bare belly. "Sally says it'll be a few weeks before I feel her."

"But she's healthy?"

"Miraculously, yes,"

"That's good," Trowa removed his hand and sat on the edge of her bed. He seemed to tense up again and Cassandra sensed there was something important he wanted to talk about, but he just couldn't seem to find the right person.

"Is something wrong, Trowa?"

"I feel like a fool!" He blurted suddenly, startling Cassandra. "A damn fool for holding back so long, for not telling Quatre how I felt. Oh, Cassie, I waited until he was like this, so close to the end…"

She smiled sympathetically and scooted forward on the bed, sliding her arms around his shoulders, her head resting against his back.

"Go on, Trowa,"

"When I finally plucked up the courage to tell him that I loved him, I felt so ashamed of myself. You went through this. You're going through it now. I should have learned something from you these last few months, these last few days. But I didn't, and I regret that so much,"

"I'm such a bad example to use!" Cassandra whined, squeezing him gently. "Trowa, sweetie, you told him and he heard you. That's all that matters now. But…" Cassandra loosened her hold and sat back, tilting her head to get a good look at his face. "He did hear you, right?"

Trowa nodded and a small smile pricked his lips. "He heard me,"

"And? Oh, please, tell me the feeling was mutual!"

"He kissed me, Cassie,"

"Oh, thank the lord," Cassandra sat back on her legs and laughed, relaxing. "I thought I was about to have to go wallop the boy for being rude. Should have known better! It's Quatre. I've never seen a more well mannered man in all my life. And to think for one second he wouldn't feel the same about you…"

"I'm a very guarded person, Cassie,"

"You're not kidding, sir," She giggled and gave his shoulder a tender, loving pat. "Quatre's never really been very open about his sexual preferences either, and I've never seen him with anyone. I always figured when the time was right, he'd find someone."

"But _is_ the time right?"

"No better time than the present, sweetie. Trust me, I know,"

Trowa nodded and laughed quietly, relaxing again. "I knew you were the right person to talk to about this. I figured if anyone could be understanding of the situation, it would be you,"

"Hon, I've had this conversation once before with someone else,"

"Have you really?"

She snorted, though she smiled brilliantly. "Don't you ever tell Tetsuya this, but his brother, Shoji. Yeah, not really into the ladies,"

Trowa laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound she'd heard all day, next to her daughter's steady, healthy heartbeat.

"Tetsuya doesn't know?"

Cassandra laughed and shrugged, making a face. "Honestly, if he hasn't figured it out by now, he's not the genius we all thought he was!"

"What's going on in here?" Howard asked suspiciously as he walked into the room. They both got quiet, startled by his presence, then burst into laughter again, each leaning on the other for support. Howard smiled approvingly.

"It's so good to hear the both of you laughing again."

"It's been a good day," Trowa admitted after he and Cassandra had regained their composure.

"So far," Cassandra giggled, though she immediately remembered the conversation she'd had with Duo. "Except that…Tetsuya isn't going to wake up,"

Trowa stiffened and he slowly met Howard's stunned, fearful gaze.

"It's all right, really, you can tell me. I can handle it," Cassandra admitted, sighing. "I talked to Duo, he told me the truth, and before you get mad at him, please, don't. He's been through a lot trying to care for Kat's stubborn ass, then worrying about Quatre, too."

"Cassie," Howard plopped into the chair beside her bed and gingerly took her hands in his. "We made the decision not to tell you because of the stress it would have put you under,"

"I know, you don't have to explain yourself, dad,"

Howard gasped quietly and lovingly stared up into her face. She had never called him that before.

"Ah, Cass, sweetheart,"

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself," She whispered, trying to speak around the lump of emotion in her throat. "And if that's why Zechs is avoiding me, please, drag him in here so I can smack him again,"

"He's been down in the hangar working on Tallgeese, sweetie. I don't think he's deliberately avoiding you," Howard said after a long moment of weepy silence. "Have faith that he'll wake up, Cassie. I don't believe for one damn second that he made it this long, that he's come this far, just to slip away now. That's not how Tetsuya operates and you know that,"

She nodded, smiling softly. "He'll wake up,"

"Yes, he will,"

"In that case," Cassandra freed her hands from Howard's and slid off the bed, carefully removing the heart monitor from around her belly and readjusting her shirt to cover her bare skin. "I want to go see Quatre for a minute before I go bother Zechs,"

"Sally said you're in the all clear. I made sure your room was ready so you can sleep there instead of in medical. Oh, that reminds me! Preventer Earth base is almost ready to be reoccupied. Should be about two more weeks and we'll be back home,"

"Anything left of my car?"

Howard made a face and Cassandra flinched, sighing heavily. "So my Mustang is now a metal pancake?"

"That seems an accurate description,"

Cassandra laughed and, linking arms with both Trowa and Howard, headed down the hall to visit with Quatre.

…

_**Three weeks later…**_

"Anything?"

The impatient tone in Zechs' voice made Sally smile, and she looked up at him through her lashes as she gently slid the ultrasound wand over Cassandra's protruding belly.

"Patience, Zechs. I've only just turned the machine on. Give me a second,"

"She's moving around a lot," Cassandra's voice was full of wonder as she stared over at the screen beside her, feeling the movement inside her belly. "It's faint, but I can feel it,"

"I imagine so," Sally muttered as she stilled the wand at the front lower rounding of Cassandra's belly. "There she is!"

"Oh!" Cassandra stared at the image on the screen, completely in awe of the spectacular 3D image of her baby. "That looks so detailed,"

"Managed to get my hands on the 3D imager at last. Lady Une said we could afford a little concession in the budget this year," Sally grinned and held the wand still for a moment, freezing the image to take proper measurements. "I was right. You're about twenty one weeks,"

"Holy…"

"Yeah," Sally gave her a stern look. "So when I'm done with you here, you will promptly and without hesitation, go with Zechs to the mess hall and stuff your face until you can't stuff it anymore. You are entirely too thin to be this far along,"

Cassandra flinched away from that stern look, refusing to look at Zechs either, because she knew he had that same fierce expression on his face, too. But to be fair, she'd been eating like a pig over the last few weeks! And she knew exactly how many pounds she'd gained.

None of her clothes fit any more, and she'd had to order new uniforms. What more did they want? She wasn't petite, but she wasn't big, either. There was only so far her skin could stretch anymore.

"Oh, look at that. You were right, Cassie. It's a girl,"

Cassandra blinked and looked back at the screen, smiling softly at the long awaited confirmation.

"I told you," She mouthed up at Zechs, though she couldn't quite fathom his expression. He was staring at the screen, but his expression was blank, his lips pursed in a thin line. He seemed so troubled. Concerned, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze, smiling up at him when he blinked and looked down at her.

"Let me print a few of these pictures for you. Blood pressure is normal, the baby is a good healthy weight, unlike her mother, so you should be good to go. Seriously, though, Cassie, eat more. If you get the munchies, then by all means, grab a snack,"

"A healthy snack," Zechs interjected snappishly.

"Yes, a healthy snack," Sally took the photos, set them to print, then cleaned the equipment and wiped the jelly from Cassandra's belly. "All done,"

"Thanks, Sally,"

"You're welcome. I'll be right back with those photos for you," Sally left the room quietly, and the door closed behind her with a soft click.

"What's wrong with you?" Cassandra finally asked as she readjusted her shirt and held her arms out for Zechs to help her off the bed. "You're so…blah…today,"

"It's a lot to take in, Cassandra."

She flinched, he hadn't called her by her full name in weeks. That usually meant he was mad at her. "I will eat more,"

He sighed, raking a hand through his long platinum tresses. "That's not what I meant. But, yes, you will."

"What is it, Zechs?"

"You're having a baby. My baby. And it's a girl,"

Cassandra nodded, studying his face. "Yes,"

"And you want this. You want her,"

"Yes," Where was he going with this?

"I don't know what to say," Zechs murmured at last, and his smile was bitter.

"That's a first," muttered Cassandra as she took his hand and squeezed it, hard. "Why wouldn't I want her? Don't give me that look!"

"May I make a request?"

"Depends on the request," Cassandra's temper was showing now. She didn't like where he was going with this.

"When she's born, give her your last name. Or Tetsuya's. I don't care which, but please, please, don't give her mine,"

She froze, surprised by his request, and stared into his face for a long moment before her eyes narrowed and she glared at him.

"Amelia Rose Merquise, end of discussion,"

"Cassie,"

"No, Zechs! Absolutely not." She pulled her hand from his and folded her arms over her chest, looking every bit as defiant as she could. He stared at her for a moment and then smiled softly, nodding.

"Amelia Rose?"

"Merquise," Cassandra hissed through her teeth.

"All right," He held his hands up in a gesture of defeat, but he didn't look entirely pleased. "I get it."

"No, you don't, but I'll ignore that for now," Cassandra looked over at Sally as the woman came back into the room and stopped, biting her lip as she stared between them.

"Is everything all right?"

"He's being a stubborn ass!"

"Ah," Sally giggled and gave Zechs an apologetic look as she handed the envelope of photos over to Cassandra. "Why don't you two go get some food and have a good chat?"

"Good idea," Cassandra tucked the envelope into her back pocket and reclaimed Zechs' hand, tugging him roughly toward the door. "I think you'll be more likely to listen to me once you're satisfied I've eaten my fill of food!"

...

"You'll be pleased to know that my classic car has been totaled beyond repair." Cassandra found herself saying as she walked into the dimly lit room and sat on the edge of Tetsuya Camui's bed. "Flatter than a pancake, actually. You always hated that car."

She reached out and touched his hand, squeezing it gently as she looked into his sleeping, angelic face.

"You're so beautiful, even when you sleep," She whispered, reaching out to tuck a stray lock of his dark hair away from his face. Her finger grazed the scar beneath his left eye and she flinched a little. The scar was old now, though it was new to her, and was a faded pink on his flesh. It looked so out of place, yet it suited him.

"My battle weary soldier. You've fought so hard and for so long. I know you're tired, I know. But, please, wake up. I need you to wake up for me," She brought his hand up to her mouth and kissed his knuckles, staring into his face for any sign that he could hear her. "I miss you, Tetsuya. I miss you so much,"

She sat with him in silence for a while before a kick from her daughter produced a moan of happy surprise.

"She's active today," Placing Camui's hand over her belly, Cassandra found herself smiling again. "Do you feel that? She likes to kick me, especially when I want to sleep. Amelia Rose. I'm sorry, Tetsuya. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry I hated you, I'm sorry I didn't try harder to find you. And I'm so, so sorry I believed you were dead. I gave up on you, and I know that if I hadn't, I would have found you sooner. Things would have been so different."

Cassandra closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of his hand on her belly and utterly hating the silence that stretched and filled the dark room they occupied.

"We're back on Earth, and you're not in medical anymore. I asked Sally to give you a more comfortable room, just in case someone else needed the room in the infirmary more. I know you wouldn't want to take up more space than you really need to." Cassandra sighed quietly, heavily. "Please don't hate me. If you can hear me, I beg you, please don't hate me. I found your DNR form in your medical records. It was so old and out of date, but your instructions were clear enough. I ripped it up. I ripped it up until the pieces were so tiny I couldn't grip them to rip them anymore. You don't want to be like this, trapped like this, I know that. But I'm so selfish. Everyone says that you'll wake up. But how long do I make you suffer? Please, Camui, give me a sign. Anything at all,"

A knock on the door brought her from her reverie. Zechs was standing in the doorway, smiling softly at her.

"Zechs,"

"I've been in the hangar all day. Finally finished, thought I'd come find you and take you to dinner,"

"Thank you," Cassandra murmured, sighing quietly. "Tallgeese?"

He smiled a brilliant smile that warmed her heart. "Squaking like a chicken,"

"Oh, thank goodness,"

"Come on, Cassie. Let's go get you fed,"

As he took her elbow and led her down the hallway, the monitor beside Camui's bed blipped and two startlingly blue eyes opened for a brief moment.

"Cassie…" The word was a whisper, barely audible, but full of longing. But no one heard it, no one saw it, and in the darkness of the room, those blue eyes closed, and all was quiet again.

…

_**Six weeks after the fall of Orion…**_

The conference room was filled with only the usual people, the Gundam pilots of course, minus Quatre as he was still healing and Sally had refused to clear him for duty just yet. Cassandra was immediately offered a seat and instead of complaining about the intricacies of male fussing, she just accepted it and folded her hands on top of her belly, waiting for Lady Une to arrive with all of the orders and assignments. Since Orion had fallen, all that was left was the task of cleaning up, which was almost completely done.

The Orien Technologies building was completely wiped away from the colony it had once occupied, and any evidence of its presence had been completely cleared. For the most part anyway. And thanks to some very hard working scientists, the colony itself had been returned to its original location and orbit safely and securely. Heero and Trowa had effectively implemented a new failsafe program to ensure that none of the colonies would ever again be compromised in such a way that would allow them to be dropped from orbit and into the planet. That particular program had been uploaded into all of the colony mainframes via a satellite download two weeks ago by Heero himself.

His assignment would be to travel with Relena Peacecraft to each of these colonies to ensure, while Relena was of course giving press conferences and attending conventions, that the program had been implemented smoothly and were in perfect working condition.

As for the other projects taking place, Cassandra knew of only two; the terraforming project on Mars and the undercover work to find all of the scientists that had been under the employment of Orien Technologies, aka Orion.

Who would be given those assignments, she wasn't sure. The Terraforming would be less of a complicated task as the undercover work, and would take less people. Since Zechs had been overseeing the first part of the project, she was almost certain that he would be overseeing it from now to its completion. A request of Relena herself, no doubt. A request he would honor without question because he still felt like he owed her that much for the Libra incident all those years ago.

The undercover work would require several Preventer agents and weeks of their undivided attention. Heero had predicted that all of them would have been well enough off to make sure they stayed hidden for a good while, but he'd uncovered several of them already. Those were the ones Lady Une was concerned with at the moment.

She was late of course, but after all of the paperwork they had seen piled on her desk in the last month, it didn't surprise anyone at all. So when she finally stepped into the conference room, no one took offense to her lack of greeting and her short, straight-to-the-point attitude.

"I have several missions to assign and I don't have very much time, so lets get straight to it. All of the solo assignments will be discussed individually with me after they are assigned. You will not have the option to turn these down. Get with me promptly after the dismissal of this meeting so that you can be briefed. Those assigned will leave tomorrow morning for their missions." Lady Une pointed at Zechs. "As for the terraforming project, I'm assigning you and Wufei to that and-"

"I decline the mission," Wufei said quickly and Lady Une turned a cold stare in his direction. Only a handful, herself included, noticed the subtle tilt of his head towards Cassandra, who seemed flabbergasted.

"Fine. Matthews, the assignment is yours, no arguments. You leave at 0800 tomorrow."

Before Cassandra could pick her jaw up from her initial shock from Wufei's blatant refusal, it seemed to drop again. Would Sally condone that so close to her due date? The terraforming project would no doubt be at least a month long and she was nearing twenty five weeks…

Sally never said a word to protest it. _Great…_

"These special solo assignments are for Barton, Yuy, who is already aware of his assignment, Maxwell, your assignment should be relatively brief, Noin and Howard will also have assignments. Minor missions will be assigned to other officers as time passes. Those are less important to us than the scientists. Please take note that all assignments will be classified to each person and will not be discussed until their completion to ensure complete success. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Good, dismissed,"

...

Less than 16 hours later, most of Preventer had dispersed. Cassandra and Zechs loaded Tallgeese into a cargo ship and took off for Mars at 0800, while Kat and the others all went their separate ways to complete their own missions.

"Are you ready?" Zechs murmured as he climbed into the pilot's chair and gave Cassandra a long, assessing look.

"Do I have a choice?" Cassandra chuckled as she awkwardly secured the harness over her pregnant belly.

"No, I guess you don't," Zechs gave her a smile and started the engines, going through the intial launch phase. "Tallgeese, how's it looking back there?"

"All diagnostics are complete and are normal."

"Good," Zechs gave Cassandra another quick look as he turned the shuttle onto the runway and aimed it toward the launch ramp. Already she was looking a little green around the gills.

"Sally gave me barf bags. Don't give me that look. I'll be fine!"

"You're sure?"

"Like you said earlier, I don't have a choice, so just gun this bitch and get us into space!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The shuttle lurched forward and pressed them both into their seats, and they took the ramp at top speed, careening up the platform to a ninety degree angle until they reached the proper altitude. Zechs hit the boosters as they reached the end of the ramp and sent the shuttle through the atmosphere a lot smoother than Cassandra had anticipated, though it was still a bumpy, stomach churning ride.

She fought the urge to be sick, keeping her eyes closed tight as they finally broke the outer atmosphere and entered the vast darkness of space. The second they broke through, the shuttle stilled and Cassandra's stomach resettled.

"You all right?"

"In one piece," Cassandra muttered after doing a quick check of herself. She grunted and smiled suddenly. "Your daughter seemed to like that ride,"

Zechs flashed her a small smile then set their course for Mars. "It'll be a while before we get there. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Yes, sir, captain, sir!" Cassandra giggled and gave him a salute that made him laugh as he grabbed the radio to check in with Luna.

"This is Wind. All flight checks have been completed. Setting our course for Mars now,"

"Preventer Wind, you are all clear. God speed,"

...

To be continued…


End file.
